A New Dawn
by PhoenixClaw2128
Summary: Sapphire Chaser is finally going on his Pokémon journey! Too bad it's not in his home region of Kanto. Instead, he'll be traversing the islands of Alola, with his partner Riolu. Read as he learns to communicate with his Pokémon, train them to be the best they can be, and, with the help of a few friends and rivals, save the world's light! Novelization of Ultra Sun/Moon with changes.
1. Chapter 1: Prolouge

Chapter 1: Prologue

 **Hello, and welcome to my first Fanfiction story! Its based in Pokémon Ultra Sun, and I 'm using a no commentary walkthrough to follow the story as closely as possible, while, of course, changing things where needed. When I finish the story of Ultra Sun, and if this story does well enough and people want it, I might have the main character move on to other regions! Or perhaps have the character join Ash on his Pokémon journey. But that's in the future, so we'll focus on that later! Anyway, enjoy the prologue of A New Dawn!**

* * *

In the large region of Kanto, within the rainbow city of Celadon, and inside a small house, a young teenage boy sat in front of a computer screen, surfing the web. He hummed to himself, as beautiful pictures of the region known as Alola passed his view, brightening his face with their bright blues and vibrant greens.

A sudden beeping drew the boy's attention to the side of his screen, as the icon for the video chat flashed. Intrigued, the boy clicked it, and his face brightened with a grin as his computer informed him it was the Alolan professor, Professor Kukui. Accepting the call, the boy bounced in his seat as the professor adjusted his camera.

"Hang on, gimmie just a sec…" The professor finished adjusting the camera, and waved at the camera, smiling. "Hey, good evening! I guess the day has come that you're moving to Alola!"

The boy laughed, nodding. "Yeah, just gotta finish packing everything up!" The boy blinked, and then tilted his head. "Actually, was there a reason you called me, Professor?"

"Pretty sharp Cousin!" in the background, The teenager could see a small yellow and white fly like pokémon buzzing past, as a small dirt brown dog pokémon chased after it, yipping, and causing the professor to turn to look at them and laugh. "All right guys, calm down!" he turned back to the camera grinning. "Anyway, I called to confirm what would be on your Trainer Passport!"

The professor looked down, and typed on his keyboard, and several pictures appeared on the screen. "All right cousin, choose the picture you want on your passport!" The professor's voice sounded out, and the boy hummed as he looked over the pictures.

Finally, He selected one. In it, a teenage boy of around fifteen grinned at the camera, he had slightly tanned skin, and messy chocolate brown locks down to his mid neck, which were slightly covering his bright sapphire blue eyes, with a pair of black sunglasses on his forehead. "This one Professor." The boy said, as the other pictures of him in slightly different positions disappeared.

"Got it!" the Professor said, looking at the picture. "Yeah that's a nice one! All right… uploaded! Ill let you make sure I spelled out your name correctly next!" As he talked, the boy's name appeared on screen, below the picture, with two options, confirm and edit.

"Sapphire… Chaser… Looks right!" Sapphire nodded, and clicked confirm. The picture and name minimized, and transferred to the side of the screen as the professor nodded.

"10-4 little buddy! I'm gonna let everybody know you're on your way!" The professor crossed his arms and grinned, as the dog and fly Pokémon Sapphire saw earlier hung and hovered over the professor's shoulders. "Sapphire… yeah, that's a name that hits you like a Trop Kick to the head! Woo!" Sapphire blinked at that one, before shaking his head and laughing. "Alright, can't wait to see you in person then, cousin!" Professor Kukui waved one last time, before reaching down and clicking a button to end the call.

Sapphire sat there for a second, before leaning back in his seat, and closing his eyes, breathing out slightly. Somehow, knowing his Trainer passport was complete made the move more… real somehow. Even if it wouldn't be for a few months at least, he still felt sad about leaving the city he grew up in, and all the friends he had made over the years.

"Sapphire! Come help me with these boxes!" Sapphire slid down his seat even more, grumbling, before getting up and turning off his computer. He stretched, and noticed his 'Guide to Alola' tour book, open next to the computer, the page detailing something called the Aether Foundation. He smiled and closed the book, patting the top, before walking out of his room.

* * *

Sapphire sighed, lying on his back, basking in the suns rays as he lay in an open field a bit away from the city. It had been two months since his conversation with the professor, and he finally got a day off from preparing for the move. It was a beautiful day for it too, the sun was shining, the pidgy's were chirping, and his best friend was hiking over, and would be there soon with a picnic lunch.

Sapphire suddenly heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, and a shadow blocked out the sun. He reached up and pulled off his sunglasses to see a tall, scrawny blond boy with pale skin, with slightly combed hair and reading glasses standing over him. He wore a white t-shirt, with gray sweatpants and white slip on sneakers, and had a teasing grin on his face. "Are you wearing sunscreen? You don't want a sunburn from lying there all day."

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear!" The blond boy laughed and offered Sapphire a hand, which he took and allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet. "I don't need Sunscreen, look at what I'm wearing!" he looked down at his black hoodie and Navy jeans, with blue sneakers. "Might have to get rid of the hoodie in Alola though… Oh, and I hope you remembered to bring the food, Gearface." Up on his feet, he was only a couple inches shorter than his friend, which the blond always liked to tease him about.

The blond snorted and motioned him over to where his magnemite was lowering itself and a picnic basket onto a blanket. "By the legends, I'm going to get you to forget that nickname one day."

Sapphire shook his head smiling, and rubbed the magnemite's head, and sat down on the blanket. "Heya, Bolt, Anthony been treating ya well?" The magnemite leaned into his rub and let out a happy 'zzzt' sound, closing its eye in contentment. He turned back to Anthony, who was pulling out plates and cutlery. "So what'd you make, Ant?"

"Well first, a salad with ingredients I bought yesterday," he ignored Sapphire as he fake gagged, "and then I have some teriyaki and rice, which might put some meat on your bones."

"I don't need to put meat on my bones," Sapphire said, impersonating Anthony's voice. "I am perfectly healthy the way I am. Besides, you're scrawnier than me!"

Anthony just sighed as he started serving himself the salad and teriyaki, and Sapphire the rice and teriyaki. "Well I'm not the one that's going to be travelling across a bunch of islands as a trainer, now am I?" Sapphire just grumbled at his friend's logic, and began digging in to his friends cooking. "Oh, this reminds me, did you memorize those recipes I sent you? If you're going to be traveling across so many islands, you'll have to cook for yourself. You won't have me or your mom with you, remember that."

"Yeah, I memorized a couple of them. And I can look up the rest if I need to. And, before you say it, I memorized the pokémon food recipes. I can also mphh…"

Anthony sighed, kneading the bridge of his nose. "Chew and swallow Sapph."

He rolled his eyes and swallowed, before continuing. "I can also bring along canned foods in case of emergency. Ill be fine, Gearface."

Anthony sighed and shook his head, but smiled anyway. "Well I suppose that's all I can ask for. Either way, I," He stopped as Sapphire suddenly stood, and looked around. "Sapph?"

"Did you hear that?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

Anthony just shook his head, and stood up quietly, motioning over Bolt. Sapphire stopped looking around, instead staring straight at a non-descript bush. Anthony frowned, and began to open his mouth, before hurriedly closing it, as the bush rustled.

Sapphire began creeping forward, a frown marring his features. "Hey… I don't want to hurt you little guy… I just want to help…"

Anthony looked at Bolt, confused, and Bolt looked back, its eye filled with just as much confusion. "Hey, Sapph?"

Sapphire only dismissively signaled him to be quiet, and knelt down in front of the bush. The rustling grew louder, and a soft growl began emanating, causing Bolt to begin charging electricity through its magnets, before Sapphire signaled again to stop. "He's just scared… he doesn't want to hurt us, do you little guy? C'mon, we wont hurt you. Hey, do you want any food? We have a bunch over here… Ant, get me my plate..."

Anthony, trusting his friend, grabbed Sapphire's plate and handed it to him. Sapphire then lowered it in front of the bush, and backed up a few steps, sitting down. The bush rustled again, before a small cobalt paw reached out to grab some of the meat, and darted back in. This continued several more times, before the bush rustled louder.

Slowly, very slowly, a small, bipedal pokémon emerged from the underbrush, most of its body and its tail a light cobalt blue, with its legs, a small part of its torso, and a sort of mask being black. It had small metal nubs on the backs of its hands, a yellow collar, and red eyes. Most noticeable, however, was a large bruise on its right leg, which caused it to wince whenever it put weight on it.

Sapphire frowned and had to consciously stop himself from grabbing the pokémon and making sure it was all right. Instead, he nudged the plate forward, motioning for the pokémon to continue eating. The pokémon looked at him for a few seconds before going back to eating, slowly at first, then faster. "Ri, riolu…"

Sapphire smiled down at him, and turned to Anthony "Hey, Ant, do you know what pokémon this is?"

He shook his head. "I do recognize him, but I can't really recall..." He slowly sat down, making sure not to startle the biped, "Hey, Sapph, how'd you know he was over there in the first place?"

Sapphire frowned, and looked down at the hurt Pokémon, and then watched as Bolt began entertaining him while he ate by doing slow tricks in midair. "I… I felt him. I don't know how else to describe it."

Anthony snapped his fingers, and then winced as the sound caused the injured pokémon to flinch. "Now I remember, that's a riolu, a Pokémon from Sinnoh. They can sense and project aura, which you must've felt somehow, and he sensed in your aura that you didn't want to hurt him… maybe that's how you also know it's a male? But why is it in Kanto right now? They aren't found anywhere in Kanto!"

Sapphire just shrugged, watching as riolu finished the food, and smiled as Riolu laughed as Bolt pretended to fly face first into a tree. "Maybe it has something to do with the bruise on its leg… Poacher's maybe? Either way we have to get that checked out soon. Hey, Riolu, I want to help make sure you're okay, and we can take you somewhere that'll heal you up."

Riolu looked up to him, hesitated, looked at Bolt, and nodded. He stood up, and then winced as he put weight on his bruised leg. "Olu…"

Sapphire looked down at the leg, before turning to Anthony. "Ant, got a pokéball? I don't want to risk injuring his leg anymore."

"No, sorry. Only pokéball I have on me is for Bolt." Sapphire sighed, and then looked down at Riolu again.

"Alright, looks like you get to hitch a ride little buddy," Sapphire said, reaching down to pick Riolu up, and carefully holding him in his arms. Bolt floated down, and levitated the plate over to Anthony buzzing energetically.

Anthony breathed out and kneeled down, repacking the blanket and the rest of the cutlery, before taking the plate from Bolt and packing that as well. "Alright, let's get moving." Bolt floated over and started orbiting his head, as he picked up the basket and stood up. Alright, Sapph, Riolu, ready to go?"

"The sooner we can heal up Riolu, the better." Riolu just smiled feeling the two teenage boy's concern for him, and perked up slightly.

"Olu, ri, riolu!" Sapphire laughed and made sure to cradle him a bit more carefully, nodding to his blond friend and his partner pokémon. "Right, lets move."

* * *

"Hey, haha! Good to see you're alright!" Sapphire laughed as Riolu hugged him, as Nurse Joy, Anthony and Bolt watched on smiling. Or, in Bolt's case, buzzing happily. "I was worried for a little bit there little buddy!"

"Ri, ri!" Riolu laughed, and clambered onto his shoulder, before sitting down and waved at Bolt. "Lu, olu!"

Bolt levitated over and gave Riolu a light shock, enough to tickle and nothing else. "Mag! Ne, ne mite!"

Nurse Joy laughed at the byplay between the two pokémon, and turned to Sapphire and Anthony. "I'm glad to say the injury was nothing life threatening, but if you hadn't brought him in when you did, it might've become infected! You said he's not either of your pokémon?"

Sapphire shook his head, reaching up to rub Riolu's head, making him yip happily. "No, he's wild. Found him in a small clearing, slightly outside the city."

"Hm. Well, either way, I'd suggest looking after him for a short while."

Sapphire blinked. "Why? He seems perfectly healthy to me!"

"Even so, I'd like to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. Besides, he certainly seems to like you, doesn't he?" Sapphire turned his head to Riolu, to see him look away from Bolt, and smile at him, yipping happily.

"Well… sure, why the heck not? Hey, Riolu, you want to stay with me for a bit?" Riolu looked at him for a second, seeming to think about it, looked at Bolt, back to Sapphire, and smiled, hugging him. "Ri, riolu!"

He laughed at the response, and turned to Anthony. "You think mom is gonna be okay with this?"

Anthony snorted, and turned to leave, Sapphire turning to follow him. "If it's cute, she'll be fine with it. Only problem I see is meowth getting jealous of the attention she'll give him."

Sapphire snickered at the thought of Riolu and meowth getting into a slap fight. "Oh god, the horror!"

* * *

It was finally the day of departure, which had led to some mixed emotions. Sapphire was excited to journey to a new region, but on the other hand, he was leaving friends behind. Anthony, Bolt, even Riolu, who he'd only known for a month now, but was still important to him. There were also the goodbyes. Sapphire hated goodbyes.

"… And remember to video call whenever you find a new recipe! And whenever you get a new Pokémon!"

"All right, all right, jeez, Gearface, you're acting like I'm gonna forget to call my best friend!"

"You've literally forgot it was your birthday once."

"We agreed we would never speak of that day ever again! Exams were coming up, and I was stressed!"

Anthony snickered and shook his head. "Whatever you say buddy. I totally believe you. Totally. I'm not being sarcastic at all."

Sapphire placed his hands on his hips, trying to keep a smile off his face, but failing slightly. "I feel like you're being sarcastic for some reason…" he turned to Bolt, levitating over Anthony's shoulder. "You better take care of Ant, got me Bolt? Get him in trouble and find loads of adventures now that I'm not around to do it with him!"

"I feel like you're being a slightly bad influence on my Pokémon Sapph…"

"I've been a bad influence on him for the year and a half you've had him," Sapphire said, sticking his tongue out. He then looked down at Riolu, who was holding on to his pants leg, looking down sadly. Hey, c'mon little buddy… I promise I'll call!"

Riolu looked up at him, and frowned, before concentrating. "Ri… Riolu ri, lu." Sapphire frowned, and shook his head.

"Sorry, bud, I didn't get that. I'm kind of sad we didn't get that aura translation going before I could leave…"

Riolu closed his eyes, and concentrated harder. "Ri… _Want t_ i _come_ lu _th you._ " Sapphire blinked, shocked.

"I… it worked! Riolu, I could understand part of that! Wait… You want to come with me?"

Riolu yipped happily, and nuzzled into his pants leg. "Well… ah, screw it! You get to come with me to Alola!" Riolu leaped up and hugged him, before leaping up onto his shoulder, pointing forwards. "Ri, olu riolu!"

Sapphire laughed and turned to Anthony. "Whelp. I guess… ugh, I really don't like goodbyes…"

"Then how about, I'll see you later." He smiled and spread his arms, causing Sapphire to grin and give him a manly hug, much manlier than a regular hug, even though it looked the same.

"See you later, Gear face."

Sapphire turned and boarded the boat, and grabbed the rail, waving to Anthony and Bolt, as well as a few other friends behind them he also said his farewells too. He was proud enough that he didn't bother to hide the few tears that welled up. He kept waving, only stopping when the shore was no longer in sight. He sighed turning and leaning on the rail, looking out up to the cloudless sky, where the stars sparkled brightly.

"Ri, riolu?" Sapphire turned and smiled at Riolu who had jumped from his shoulder onto the railing.

"Yep. New adventures on new horizons." He rubbed his ears, causing Riolu to yip happily, and tilted his head. "Hey, how about to celebrate, we come up with a couple nicknames?" Riolu looked at him before yipping and nodding. "Hmm. Sir Yipsalot?" Riolu gave him a _look_ for that one. "All right, all right. Only a joke." He laughed and he and Riolu turned back to the horizon, where the sun was slowly rising. "Fitting. Our new adventures begin on a new dawn."

* * *

 **And so ends the weirdly long prologue. But hey, needed to start it up somehow eh? This way as well, there won't be arguments about who is best starter. (Hint hint always the fire types, fire types for life.) Anyway, review your thoughts, and, if you can think of any, some constructive criticisms! Flames and hate won't just be ignored; they will be consumed, and turned into fuel for my next burning day. Your hate shall be my food, and be burned into my flames. See y'all next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Alola

**Haha I return from death. I was pretty busy with the SATs and school, which is why I couldn't get a chapter out in, what, multiple months? Either way, new chapter is out, and the next chapters definitely won't take millennia. Enjoy!**

 **Oh, and disclaimer, i don't own pokémon. Yeah. On with the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Welcome to Alola

"Here we are, sweetie! Our brand new home!"

Sapphire looked up at his new house, tilting his head, while Riolu let out a soft 'Olu…' from his shoulder. It looked nice enough he supposed. The walls and roof were a calming shade of blue, while the supports on the patio were a stark white, and the supports for the bottom of the house were a rich brown. A few plants hung on the patio, along with a few colorful bushes underneath. Inside, he could see the warm golden light of some lamps, and the silhouettes of some machamp, which were part of the moving company, and were carrying in some boxes.

"Well, it certainly looks nice." Sapphire hummed out, placing his hands in his jeans pockets. "I can see myself liking this place… I guess."

Riolu nodded, crossing his arms. "Olu, ri."

"I'm sure you'll grow to love it!" she turned to her son and his partner, and placed her hands on her hips, smiling. "But for now, how about you two get some rest? That was a long journey after all!" At that, she began walking inside, leaving Sapphire and Riolu to look at each other.

"So… looks a bit different than our old home, right, bud?" Riolu yipped, then jumped down and began walking towards the stairs. "Yeah, you said it."

He followed his partner up the stairs and into the house. He turned to close the door behind him, and observed the inside of his home. There was a small kitchen area to his left, already stocked with foodstuffs, with a door behind it, probably leading to the bathroom. In the center of the room was a small dining room table, with two chairs and in the back of the room was a small cabinet, which held a widescreen T.V. and had a few boxes stacked next to it. On either side of the T.V. were doors, and from what his mother said, the left door was his mother's room, and the right door was his room. The only things on the right side of the room were a door and a few windows, which had a view of their small balcony.

Sapphire followed Riolu into his room, and nodded politely at the machamp who walked past, out of his room. He looked around, observing where the movers had put everything. To his left was his snorlax cushion, right next to his closet. In the corner of the room was another cabinet with a widescreen above it, and a game system in front of it, with a drawer next to the cabinet, holding a picture frame on top of it. Above the picture frame was his clock, which ticked on.

In the back of the room, below a large window, was his desk, holding his globe, journal, and a few hardcover books, with a trash can below the desk. Finally, on the right side of the room, were his bed, and a coat rack with his backpack hanging from a hook. The backpack was a deep black, with a blue pokéball design with a white center on it. The bed was currently pretty bare, with only the mattress, and a pillow on top of it. The rest of his stuff was probably in a few of the boxes at the foot of the bed.

"So, what do you think, Riolu?" Riolu looked around the room, before running and jumping onto the bed, Turning to Sapphire with a happy smile on his face.

"Olu, riolu!" Sapphire laughed while walking forward, and crashed down onto the bed next to him.

"Yeah, I guess they put everything in places they should be. I'll probably move things around a bit tomorrow anyway, I'm too beat to do it now, or even unpack anything… want to get some rest?"

Riolu frowned, before jumping at one of the boxes, and opened it up. Sapphire raised an eyebrow as Riolu rummaged through it, before jumping out and presenting a Riolu and Pikachu plush to him. "Oh, that's what you were looking for! Alright, now that you've got em, how about we go to sleep?" Riolu jumped up and handed him the Pikachu plush, while holding onto the Riolu one, and cuddled up next to him.

"Olu, lu ri." Sapphire laughed, and clapped his hands, causing the ceiling light to turn off, and lay down next to his partner Pokémon.

"Night to you too, buddy."

* * *

Sapphire stirred to an annoyed yowling, and turned over, grumbling. "Wa… Later…" The yowling only got louder, so he groaned, and blearily got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, as he let out a jaw cracking yawn. "Mmph… Damn cat…" Meowth only looked at him smugly before walking out of the room.

Sapphire stretched, before wincing as he caught his own stench, and lifted his arm to sniff, recoiling at the smell. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't have slept in my clothes…" He turned to his new closet, and began rummaging around, looking for a new shirt and pair of jeans. Eventually, he settled on a pale blue t-shirt, with a bright blue fireball outlined in black, and a dark pair of navy jeans. He carried them out of his room, waving at his mom as he walked into the bathroom.

After a quick and refreshing shower, he donned his new clothes, and looked at himself in the mirror. "Fresh start, fresh me! Wait, that's not how it goes…" chuckling, he began to slip on his sweater, before remembering that it was probably going to be too hot to wear in the Alolan weather, and instead tied it around his waist.

He walked out of the bathroom, and smiled at his mother who was beginning to cook breakfast. "Well don't you look handsome? Did you have a good sleep? You were out like a light!"

He laughed and sat down at the table, stretching again, and readjusting his sweater. "Yeah, I guess it was the excitement of the previous day getting to me. And the thought of having to unpack everything as well…"

He turned as his bedroom door opened, and RIolu walked out, rubbing his eyes and yawning cutely. "Hey, buddy, glad to see you're up!" Riolu smiled, before yawning again, and crawled up his legs to sit in his lap.

"So, have you two decided upon a nickname yet?" Sapphire shook his head at his mom's words, watching as she walked over with two plates stacked high with pancakes.

"Well, we have a few, but we haven't really decided on one yet. There's also the fact that most people don't nickname their pokémon, so I don't really need to nickname him, but I feel like it would just bring us closer together as partners." Riolu looked up from the pancakes to smile and yip at him, before going back to eating.

"That reminds me, in the month Riolu's been with us, I never got him a pokéball! I thought he would be staying in Saffron so I never bothered to buy one! Ma, do you mind if we go out to buy one after breakfast?"

She laughed and covered her mouth, nodding. "Of course, dear, just make sure to take your bag and journal, and tell me about any new pokémon you encounter on the way!" Sapphire grinned, and started shoveling down the rest of his food, Riolu matching his speed, and the second they were done, he jumped up and they ran to his room.

He grabbed his sunglasses from the desk, slipping them onto his forehead, and took his journal and his Alolan tour book, tossing both onto the bed, where Riolu had grabbed his backpack from the coat rack and opened it up, stuffing the books inside.

Sapphire quickly grabbed a pair of socks and his sneakers, slipping them on, before taking the backpack from Riolu and slipping that on as well, before allowing Riolu to clamber onto his shoulder.

He exited his room and flipped down his sunglasses as he jogged to the front door, waving to his mother. "See ya mom! Be back in a bit!"

His mother looked up from the sink where she was cleaning their dishes. "Alright, have fun boys! And stay safe!"

"Don't worry, we'll be fine!"

"Riolu ri!"

Sapphire grabbed a bundle of cash his mother had left by the door and quickly exited the house, bounding down the steps and kicking up a cloud of dirt from the road, all as Riolu held on to the side of his head yipping in excitement.

As they ran down the road to the nearby Pokémon Center, the two observed the houses of their neighbors. Most of them looked identical to their own, besides small cosmetic and color differences.

"Interesting houses, a lot more open to the weather than kanto!" Sapphire observed, slowing slightly to look at the houses. "Do you think any trainers live in this town?"

"Ri." The pokémon barked back, shrugging.

"Hey, maybe we can find somebody to battle with!" He laughed. "That would be awesome! Our first battle together!" He could imagine it now! Him, standing heroically, calling out attacks, while Riolu battled valiantly, to defeat their opponent!

Riolu practically had stars in his eyes at the thought of it. "Olu Olu!" He was picturing it in his head as well, his trainer calling him into battle with a dramatic flourish and catchphrase! It would have to be cool though. He learned this on tv, only the best trainers had catchphrases, and his trainer was obviously the best. No matter what anyone said!

Near the end of the road, where it turned to concrete, the familiar red and white of the pokémon center shined bright, although the building itself was built differently, rounder than its Kanto counterparts, and with a pokémart on the inside, rather than a seperate building. Sapphire finally slowed to a walk, and approached the automatic doors, shivering slightly as they opened, and the air conditioned air inside quickly contrasted with the blazing Alolan heat. "Now that's a breath of fresh air!"

Riolu quickly smacked him on the back of the head causing him to grumble as he walked inside. "Nobody appreciates a good pun anymore," he muttered quietly. The inside of the pokémon center was very different to the Kanto centers as well, instead of having a staircase to an upstairs area on the left side, there was a café with an old man chatting with a customer on one of the stools, and on the right side of the building was the aforementioned pokémart. In the middle of the center was a counter which Nurse Joy stood behind, talking with a customer, someone Sapphire assumed was a trainer, and by the back wall was a doorway leading to rooms that trainers could rent to stay the night.

Sapphire walked towards the counter of the pokémart, humming as he looked over the items within the displays. "Hello, how may i help you today?" He started, and looked up, only to laugh when he saw it was just the clerk.

"I'd like to purchase a pokéball for my pokémon Riolu please," Sapphire asked, grinning.

"Of course, what kind of pokéball would you like?"

Sapphire paused, and looked towards Riolu. "Well, it's up to you, bud. Pick away!" Riolu barked and jumped down to the counter, and started inspecting the pokéballs, as his trainer continued talking with the clerk. "So how many different types of balls are there?"

"There are around twenty seven different types of pokéballs," the clerk said, smiling as Riolu walked back and forth over the glass. " although there are several balls that are usually only obtainable in the Johto region, and safari balls that safari zones use. Ah it seems your pokémon has selected a pokéball."

Sapphire laughed as Riolu grabbed his arm, and pointed to a black pokéball with a gold band in the center, and another gold band slightly above it. "Riolu!"

"Oh, that one does look cool. Which one is that?"

"That would be a luxury ball, it comes with several additions to the normal pokéball, as well as being more comfortable to the pokémon."

"Of course you would pick that one!" Sapphire chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, we'll take the Luxury ball please." Riolu jumped down to the ground and started jumping up and down in excitement as Sapphire paid for the luxury ball, and knelt down, smiling. "Alright, ready bud?" He asked, pushing the button on the capsule causing it to expand.

"Lu, Riolu!" He cheered, jumping forward and slapping his paw onto the button, and was quickly transformed into red energy and sucked inside of the sphere, which began to shake, as the gold button began flashing. Soon enough, the luxury ball stopped shaking and pinged, signifying the capture of the pokémon within. Sapphire released Riolu, who clambered up his leg and hugged him.

"Haha, I'm happy to bud! C'mon, lets head back to the house and celebrate!" He cheered, chuckling.

* * *

"Ma, I'm back!" Sapphire called, hopping up the steps, and opening the front door, before pausing at the sight of two people within the room. One of them was obviously his mother, but the second person was new.

She had light skin, with rich brown eyes and hair, which was brushed neatly to the small of her back. She wore a tight green tank top with a burgundy shoulder bag and skirt down to knees, and Black leggings and heels. She smiled and walked up, and offered her hand to shake, which Sapphire quickly grasped, smiling. He idly noticed she was slightly shorter than him, and barely noticed Riolu snickering on the floor next to him. "Hi! My names Willow, Willow Thorne, whats yours?"

Sapphire quickly shook his head and blushed as he cleared his throat. "Er, Chaser, Sapphire Chaser! It's uh, nice to meet you!"

Willow laughed and placed a hand on her hip, tilting her head. "Was that a James Bond reference?"

"Uh, Yes?"

She hummed and nodded her head. "Good, my rival has a sense of humor. I think we'll get along pretty well!"

"Uh, yeah! I think so too," Sapphire said, smiling, before frowning. "Wait, RIval?"

"Yep, I'm heading to Iki town to get my starter from Professor Kukui today, and he told me to bring my new neighbor along as well!"

"Oh, well I'm sorry I took so long at the store! I was buying my partner a pokéball. Oh, here," Sapphire motioned with his hand and Riolu climbed up his body, and sat on top of his head, taking his sunglasses and wearing them, causing the two trainers to laugh. "This is my partner, Riolu! We're still deciding on a nickname right now."

Willow giggled and pet Riolu on his head, causing him to coo and lean into the hand. "It's nice to meet you Riolu! I actually have my own pokémon, but she's been a part of the family for a while, so she doesn't really know how to fight. That's why the Professor is giving me a starter to help me along! Come out Cream!"

From behind her leg, a small pale grey, furry head, with large, round, lilac eyes poked out, before darting back in. Sapphire reached up and nudged Riolu, who took the cue and jumped down, and began conversing with the pokémon, who slowly walked out. "Riolu lu!"

"Es, espurr," the small pink pokémon said, rubbing her cream colored paws together shyly.

"Aw, she's adorable! What pokémon is she?" He questioned, as he kneeled, reaching out slowly, as she shyly reached out and started playing with his fingers, causing him to laugh.

"She's an espurr, from the Kalos region, she's a psychic type." They both smiled as Riolu started playing with her, his stolen sunglasses wobbling dangerously on the tip of his nose.

There was a moment of quiet as they both watched the pokémon played together, before Sapphires mother cleared her throat. "So, I assume you'll both be leaving for Iki town then?"

Sapphire flushed as he realized his mother had been watching silently the whole time, and crossed his arms, turning away as he saw her small smirk. "Er, yeah. Whenever you're ready, Willow."

She nodded, and picked up Cream, placing her on her shoulder, while Sapphire picked up Riolu and placed him on his own shoulder, where he quickly unzipped his backpack and hopped in, making Sapphire raise an eyebrow, before shrugging. "Alright, let's get going then," he said, smiling.

"Have fun you four!" His mother called out, waving.

"We will, thanks for the hospitality, Miss Chaser!" Willow waved back, with Cream waving shyly. Sapphire exited the house and held the held the door open for Willow, who smiled in thanks, causing him to blush and grin, while Riolu rolled his eyes.

"So," Sapphire asked as they walked down the dirt road, which direction is Iki town?"

"First, we head towards the Pokémon center, then head right onto route one. Iki town is just a short walk after that."

"Oh, cool."

The two trainers walked in silence after that, while their pokémon chatted, before Sapphire rubbed the back of his neck and turned to Willow. "So, uh, how long have you lived in Alola?"

"Not very long actually, my family moved here from Kalos a month ago, and dad caught Cream as a reminder of home." She turned and smiled, tilting her head, in Sapphires opinion, cutely. "So where did you move from?"

"Kanto," he replied, looking up at the sky. "I come from Celadon city specifically, and I caught Riolu the day we embarked for Alola. Well, more like a little under a month ago, but there's really no difference."

"There's a bit of a difference between a month and a day." She laughed, covering her mouth.

"No, no, I mean that I met Riolu a month ago, and he's kind of been my pokémon since then, but we really made it official yesterday, since I thought he would be staying behind in Kanto with one of my friends."

"Ah. You must have formed a powerful bond. It's incredible how close two people or pokémon can be, even after short whiles."

"Yeah…" Sapphire smiled as he looked back at Riolu, who was gesticulating wildly as he barked at Cream, who was watching awestruck. He chuckled, Probably some story from Kanto _,_ he thought to himself. "I mean, our bond was pretty strong from the very beginning, he was hurt, and recognized through my aura that i wanted to help him, and that i was trustworthy. After the nurse at the nearby pokémon center healed him, he wanted to stay with me. We just, I don't know, connected."

"Aura… where have i heard that before?" She asked herself, tilting her head.

"From what my friend told me, it's kind of like the life force that everything holds within or something, and some pokémon can use it, but riolu and lucario are the best at it. That's why Aura Sphere is considered a lucario's signature move, even though there are other pokémon that can use it."

"Aura Guardians, that's it!"

"Aura Guardians? What are those? They sound awesome. Are they awesome?" Willow laughed at his enthusiasm, and shook her head.

"Now, I don't know much myself, but the city i grew up in, Shalour city, has a gym leader named Korrina, and apparently her family goes along way back, as Mega Evolution Guru's, and Aura Guardians."

"Mega Evolution Guru's?"

"Later," she said, waving him off. "Anyway, from what i do know, one of her lucario's always had an interest in me as i grew up, because i had an interesting aura. From what she told me, Aura Guardians could use aura just like riolu and lucario, and were able to use pokémon attacks, talk to pokémon, and a bunch of other things."

"Whoa." Sapphire breathed out, eyes shining bright at the thought. "Can you imagine that Riolu?"

"Ri…"

"Yeah, I guess you already trying to talk through aura makes it a bit easier to think about."

"Anyway," Willow said, clearing her throat, "The Aura Guardian side of her family apparently died out, but she does have some books on aura and Aura Guardians, some of which she's shown me. I can send her a message asking for those books if you'd like."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome! Man, how awesome would it be to shoot flamethrowers out of my mouth? Although that might burn a bit, and LOOK OUT!"

Willow spun, and gasped as she saw a small, brown and cream colored pokémon with incredibly sharp fangs jumping at her face. She quickly ducked to the ground, casuing Cream to squeak and tumble on the ground. The pokémon landed on the floor and quickly spun, growling. "Yun!"

"Damn, it's a horde of yungoos!" Willow cried, Looking around.

A horde? Sapphire looked back, and paled when he saw five more yungoos run out of the grass, quickly surrounding them. They had wandered into the tall grass of route one while distracted talking to each other, and now paid the price. He narrowed his eyes and grabbed his sunglasses back from Riolu as he climbed out of his bag, flipping them around and slipping them on. He quickly set his stance and threw out his arm, which Riolu ran down and jumped off of. "Riolu, Time to show them the power of Aura!"

"Riolu!" He barked as he landed, putting his paws up, grinning wildly.

"So have you two ever trained or fought other pokémon together?" Willow asked, putting her back to his, clenching her fists.

"Nope." He smirked, glancing at the three yungoos growling at Riolu.

"Right, th- what? Okay then, but you know how pokémon battles work right?"

"Essentially. I tell Riolu what attacks to use right?"

"It's more complicated than that, but at it's basics, yes."

"Right." The center yungoos facing Riolu growled, and charged forward, causing Riolu to growl as he set his feet. "Riolu, uh, counter!"

"Olu!" Riolu crossed his arms as the yungoos tackled him, and began glowing red as he used counter, throwing back the damage into yungoos' face, sending it sprawling back.

"Wait is counter a move?" Sapphire blushed as Riolu, Willow, and Cream looked at him incredulously. "What? It's a legitimate question!"

"Do you know- Cream, confusion, the left and right yungoos! Do you know any of Riolu's moves?"

"Uhh, well there's counter, right? We didn't do any battling back in Kanto, remember! We just messed around! Um, Use scratch! Most pokémon know that one right?"

Riolu looked back at him before shrugging, and pounced forward at the leftmost yungoos, clawing at its face, who quickly ducked back, before clawing at the ground, sending dirt and sand into Riolu's eyes. He recoiled, rubbing at his eyes, which the three yungoos took advantage of by charging forward, trying to bite him.

"Riolu, look out! Duck backwards, quickly!" not being able to see, but trusting his friend, Riolu jumped back, dodging two of the yungoos, before the third changed course and latched onto his arm, digging its sharp fangs into his fur and muscle. He cried out in pain and flinched backwards, before growling as he kicked upwards, his leg catching aflame, throwing the yungoos back with a wash of fire.

"Rio!" He cried out, doing a sweeping kick this time, which barely grazed the yungoos. Of course, with his leg being on fire, it still hurt the pokémon, causing it to squeak as it was thrown back, fur catching aflame. It scurried away, abandoning the other two yungoos, leaving only five.

"Purr!" Four actually, as Cream scratched one of her opposing yungoos, knocking it out.

"Two left for me," Sapphire said over his shoulder, as Willow nodded.

"Same for me. You're doing pretty good for your first battle, even if you don't know Riolu's move names. Think we'll be able to handle the rest?"

"Riolu isn't to badly injured, i think we'll be able to hold out!"

"Ten!"

"Uh, What about ten?" Sapphire questioned, turning around.

"That wasn't me," Willow said, shaking her head

Suddenly, a stream of embers washed over the two yungoos facing Riolu and Sapphire, while a multitude of sharp petals cut past the yungoos facing Cream and Willow. "Row!"

Out of the grass, a black and red kitten pokémon dashed out and skid to a stop next to Riolu, hackles raised and hissing, while a Green and white owl pokémon soared down, landing and hooting angrily next to Cream. Having their number advantage taken away, the yungoos panicked and ran, leaving the two trainers and four pokémon victorious.

"Well then. That went well," Sapphire said, smiling. He knelt on one knee and pet the cat pokémon, laughing. "Thanks, little buddy, real helpful of you!" The pokémon purred and leaned into his hand, while Riolu barked at the pokémon, thanking them as well.

"Hey, you two, over here!" Sapphire and Willow turned, and were surprised to see Professor Kukui walking through the grass, waving. "I see you two have met Litten and Rowlet!"

"Hello, Professor." Willow smiled, holding her hands behind her back. "These two helped us out in a battle against a horde of yungoos."

"Ah, that explains it it, cousin! They ran ahead as I was taking them out to explore route one! They probably heard the sounds of battle and shot away like they were using extreme speed! But it works out, since you can pick the one you'd like now!"

"Uh, but, aren't there usually three starters?" Sapphire questioned, scratching the back of his neck. "I only see two."

"Well, you'd be right, but popplio, the water type, has already been chosen by another trainer starting their journey, Hau. So, Willow, you've got a choice between the fire type, Litten, and the grass type, Rowlet!"

"Well that's an easy one." Willow smiled, leaning down. "Rowlet of course! Grass types are my favorite!"

Rowlet hooted, hopping forward and lightly nipped at her hand, as Cream shyly introduced herself. Meanwhile, Litten just meowed and walked over to the professor, who looked down at Litten, and hummed for a second.

"Sapphire?" Sapphire hummed and looked away from Willow, Rowlet, and Cream, and looked at the professor, who had picked up Litten and was holding him towards him. "Since there aren't going to be any new trainers for a while, Litten's going to be alone at the Kahuna's with no other starters for a while, and I'd rather him go with a trainer than be alone."

Sapphire gingerly took Litten, holding him by the sides as he looked down into his yellow and red eyes, before smiling and looking up at the professor. "I'll make sure to take care of him, Professor. Thank you for the opportunity, you can trust me with him."

"I'm sure I can, cousin. Now then, here are the pokéballs for the two of them," Kukui said, handing Sapphire a plain red and white pokéball with a small flame sticker, and Willow a Plain pokéball with a leaf sticker. "So, ready to head to Iki town and meet the Island Kahuna?"

"Why are we meeting the Kahuna?" Sapphire asked, returning Litten, and raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the starters aren't really mine cousin, they're actually the Kahuna's. They were a gift, so let's go show 'em off and say thanks! And maybe it won't be your only present, i'm not sure if you've heard, but the Kahuna's are all powerful trainers, so be careful if you ever get in a battle with one!"

Sapphire laughed, and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Ready Willow?"

Willow nodded, having returned Rowlet and picked up cream, cradling her to her chest, while Riolu climbed back into his backpack, yipping. "Alright then," Sapphire said, grinning, as he hiked up his backpack a few inches. "Onwards to Iki Town."

* * *

 **Welp, there's the latest chapter, I hope y'all enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3: Electrifying Encounters

**Chapter three has arrived. Within the same month as the last one, hallelujah. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Electrifying Encounters

"Time to show them the power of aura?"

"Well excuse me Willow, but with the conversation we were having right before the battle, you think my battle cry is not going to involve aura?"

Willow just laughed as Sapphire flushed, and Professor Kukui chuckled next to them. "So are you going to say that when you send out a pokémon that doesn't use aura attacks?"

"That's a problem for another day," Sapphire said, crossing his arms and looking away.

"I'm sure you'll come up with something, cousin," Kukui replied, smiling.

"Hey!" Sapphire and Willow turned towards the yell, and watched as a teenage boy ran up. He had dark skin and deep brown hair, and wore a black shirt with a orange backpack, shorts, and sneakers. "Which pokémon are you choosing as your partner? I chose popplio, isn't he cool?" The boy reached into his backpack, and threw a pokéball into the air, which opened to release a blue seal like pokémon, which barked, and clapped its hands happily.

"Uh…" Sapphire backed up a step and looked at Professor Kukui out of the corner of his eyes.

"Alright, Hau, calm down for a minute." The professor chuckled, put his hand on Hau's shoulder. "I don't think they're ready for your level of energy yet.

"It's alright professor." Willow laughed, reaching into her shoulder bag for Rowlet's pokéball. "I chose Rowlet!" Rowlet popped out of her ball, hooting, and alighted on Willow's shoulder.

"Awesome, we're gonna have some cool battles in the future! Oh, so that means you got Litten right?"

Sapphire nodded, taking the pokéball out of the side pocket of his bag. "Yep, come on out bud!" Litten popped out, and rubbed up against his leg, purring. "I should probably get a trainer belt to hold your pokéballs there…"

"Awesome! We should all totally have threeway a battle together! To celebrate getting our starters!"

"Hau, we'll be having a battle later, in the Guardian Deity's honor, remember?"

"Guardian Deity?" Sapphire scratched the back of his head. "What's that?"

"You wouldn't know about them, you've only been here a day," Willow said, smiling. "Every island of Alola has their own Guardian Deity. Melemele island has Tapu Koko, Akala island has Tapu Lele, Ula'ula island has Tapu Bulu, and Poni island has Tapu Fini."

"Every Island Kahuna is chosen by the island's Guardian Deity, and there are many legends surrounding them. Long ago the Deity's fought each other to prove which was strongest, which caused a large amount of death. After this, the Tapu's decided not to involve themselves with human affairs, excluding the Kahuna's of course. Whenever new trainers get their starters, they battle to please the island Tapu, which we'll do after we find the Kahuna. Say, have you seen him, Hau?"

"Who, Gramps? No, I haven't seen him around. Should we go looking for him?"

"Yeah, You and I can search around route one, Sapphire, Willow, you mind looking around Iki town?"

"Of course not, professor. Let's go, Sapphire."

"Gotcha. See you guys later!" Sapphire waved as they split up, the two trainers and pokémon walking up the stairs to Iki town, while Hau Popplio and Kukui walked back onto route one.

* * *

"I can't find the Kahuna anywhere." Sapphire sighed, clasping his hands behind his head. "What about you?"

"Neither can I," Willow said, shaking her head. "You've asked everyone in town?"

"Everyone. Is there anywhere either of us haven't checked?"

"Have you checked the Tapu's shrine?"

"...Where is that again?"

Willow just laughed and grabbed his hand, causing him to stammer and the four pokémon to watch amused. "It's this way, follow me."

They quickly walked to the north of the village, where a small path with two stone statues stood to either side led into the underbrush. "This is the Mahalo trail, it leads up to the Deity's shrine!" They walked up the dirt trail and wooden stairs, following the small bends and twists, While Sapphire marvelled at the beautiful scenery. They passed several other statues, before exiting the small forest area, and coming out onto a small plateau, connected to another plateau by a wooden bridge, while a river raged underneath.

However, they all paused when they saw a blonde girl with pale skin standing at the front of the bridge. She turned around and they all saw her worried expression as she clutched nervously at the strap of her bag. "Hey, Is everything all right miss?"

"Please…" She looked conflicted, before closing her eyes and stepping to the side. "Please help my friends!" In the middle of the bridge, two small blue pokémon pokémon were being attacked by a flock of spearow.

Sapphire's eyes hardened, and charged forward past the girl. "Right! Let's go guys!"

"Cream, Rowlet, come on!" The six of them ran across the bridge while the girl looked on worried. Riolu leaped into the air and kicked a spearow out of the air, causing it to caw and flap angrily, sending gusts of wind at him. He grit his teeth and braced himself, while Litten leaped over him, breathing embers at the bird pokémon, burning it.

Cream meanwhile grabbed another spearow telekinetically, holding it in place, while Rowlet scratched at the pokémon with its talons. Sapphire and Willow at the same time ran to the pokémon being attacked, and covered them with their bodies, wincing at the claws scratching at their skin.

"Hey, it's alright, I'll protect you," Sapphire whispered to the pokémon he was covering. The pokémon had a dark blue cloud like body that looked like a nebula, with two small wisp like appendages that were a lighter blue. It had a yellow ellipse running around its body, and its face was black, with yellow eyes and blue cheeks. It looked up at him in wonder as he tried to grin through the pain.

Seeing their protectors in pain, the two pokémon began glowing, and an explosion of blue light shot out, not harming them or their pokémon, but pushing back the spearow. At the same time though, the attack shredded the bridge below them, causing them to cry out as they began falling to the rushing rapids below. The two trainers grabbed the nebula pokémon as they fell, and Cream and Riolu quickly grabbed onto Willow, while Litten and Rowlet grabbed onto Sapphire.

Sapphire squeezed his eyes shut as he fell, hearing the cries of the pokémon around him and Willow, holding the pokémon even closer. 'Is this how it ends?' he thought to himself. 'Before my journey even begins?' He felt the air rush by around him, and over the yelling heard the rushing of water, and… the crackling of thunder?

Just as Sapphire started to feel the spray of water, he let out a heavy breath as he felt an impact, but not with the river, as he felt something begin to carry him back up, and opened his eyes to see… a lot of yellow and black. He closed his eyes against the rush of air, and grunted as what he assumed was a pokémon let him and Willow onto the ground.

Sapphire looked up, at what saved them, and gasped at the pokémon in front of them. Its main body was black, with two white marks, and yellow rings on its biceps while its "legs" were pure yellow. On its head were two hard green eyes and four more white marks, along with two yellow marks on beside its eyes and a kind of yellow mohawk. On the ends of both arms were two massive yellow shields with orange, white, and yellow markings along with yellow fins on the sides and black talons on the front.

The pokémon looked straight at Sapphire, before looking down at the pokémon in his hands, staring intently. It suddenly let out a screech, thunder crackling off its form, and shot into the sky, leaving behind a bright yellow trail. Sapphire watched in awe and Willow let off a soft breath in wonder. Sapphire looked up as the girl from before offered the two of them a hand, and let her help him up, dusting himself off as Rowlet flapped over to Willow nipping at her hair in worry. Riolu at the same time walked over, pulling at his pant leg whimpering, while Litten rubbed his face against his leg.

"Hey, don't worry Riolu, Litten, we're all safe now don't worry," He said, smiling softly, rubbing Riolu's head, and scratching Litten under the chin.

" _Was… worried…"_ Riolu said, his words understandable through aura, and the powerful emotions flowing off him. Sapphires eyes softened and he picked him and Litten up, hugging them close, tearing up.

"It's alright. I'm here." The three stood there for a second, before he placed the two down, and turned to the unknown girl, who was hugging the two pokémon they saved.

"Thank goodness you two are safe," she said, hugging the pokémon close to her, before setting them down. She turned to Sapphire and Willow, smiling nervously. "I can't thank you two enough, you saved them, at risk to yourselves…"

"It's not a problem." Willow smiled back, interlocking her hands. "We would save anyone in trouble."

"You've got that right!" Sapphire laughed, although nervously. "Could have done without the near death encounter though."

"Cos!" The humans turned to see all the pokémon huddled around a patch of dirt, the one that the mysterious pokémon took off from, one that was sparkling brightly.

Sapphire walked over and knelt down, brushing the dirt away from two black stones. They had what looked like white stylized Z's on the front, with an arrow above them and small red and yellow flecks. He gently picked them up and carried them back looking at them.

"Weird, aren't they?" He asked, tilting his head. "Think that pokémon left them behind? Here, Willow, you can have this one. Oh, do you want the other one, miss…?"

"Lillie." The now identified girl shook her head, her white hat flopping slightly. "No, you can have it… for saving my friends. And please, you can't tell anyone about this, about the two of them, please!"

"Don't worry, we won't," Willow said, smiling to her down.

"Okay, okay. T-Thank you… I'm sorry, they're just… kind of a secret. She turned to the two pokémon and unzipped her shoulder bag, holding it out for them. "Nebby, Nebbles, into the bag…"

The two pokémon climbed into the bag, and she zipped it closed, patting it lightly. "Um…" she turned to the two trainers and looked down shyly. "I know it might be too much to ask but… could you walk back to town with us? I'm afraid we might be attacked by more pokémon, or… or something.

"You got it!" Sapphire laughed, and returned Litten, spinning the pokéball while Riolu climbed onto his shoulder. "Willow?"

"Of course," she said, returning Rowlet and picking up Cream and holding her close to her chest.

* * *

The trainers and Lillie walked out of the underbrush back into Iki town, to see Professor Kukui standing on the wooden stage at the center of the town.

"Hey!" He waved them over, before hopping off the stage to greet them. "I see you've met my assistant Lillie! Lillie, I thought you were with the kahuna?"

"Oh, he left town a little bit ago, he said he had business to attend to. I was exploring Mahalo trail while I waited…"

"And that's where you met these two, right, cousin? Sapphire's new to the islands, so you and Willow will have to show him around!"

"Right… I didn't know you two were acquaintances of the professor. It's nice to meet you."

"Same to you!" Sapphire grinned, rocking back and forth, while Willow just smiled and nodded.

"Hey the kahuna's back!" The four turned towards the entrance of the village, where a group of people had gathered.

Walking into the village was a large, tanned man with white hair, wearing a large orange floral robe with a blue shirt, white shorts and sandals."Professor," The man shouted boisterously, and then saw the teenagers around him. "Hm, have I missed something?"

"I brought Willow and Sapphire to thank you for the starters, where were you? Trouble?"

"No, No!" He laughed shaking his head. "Just some brawling rockruff I had to break up. I came back since for a moment I thought I saw the Tapu flying above the shrine!"

"Um, you see, Kahuna Hala, Nebby and Nebbles were attacked by spearow on the bridge, and Sapphire and Willow saved them, but the bridge broke, and before they fell to the bottom of the ravine, the Guardian Deity saved them!"

"Well now, Lillie, that ain't a story you hear every day!" The professor looked at Sapphire and Willow, nodding his head. "You two must have swooped in like a blaziken using brave bird!"

"'Twas nothing!" Sapphire laughed, placing his hands on his hips, Riolu mimicking him.

"Rio olu!"

"Hoho! Interesting! Although it is said to protect us, Tapu Koko is a fickle being, yet our guardian was moved to save you! Kukui, my boy, it seems we have a cause to celebrate, we have two brave trainers in our midst, that our guardian has taken interest in!"

"You're making me blush," Sapphire said, crossing his arms and grinning while Willow jokingly curtsied.

"And with senses of humor as well! I think you'll both do fine on your journeys, whatever you chose them to be! Now, then, as Kahuna of Melemele, I welcome you to Alola, young Sapphire! Kukui told me of your coming, and i'm glad i made your acquaintance today!" Nebby floated up and spiralled around Sapphire's head twinkling.

Lillie started, and looked down at her bag which was now open, as Nebbles flew out and started circling Willow. "Nebby, Nebbles, come on! I know that the professor and the Kahuna will protect you, but you can't just fly out of my bag like that! I'm sorry you two, it seems they've developed a liking to you…"

"It's quite alright Lillie." Willow smiled, petting one of Nebbles' appendages. "It's no problem to me, and i'm sure Sapphire feels the same."

"You bet! I don't have a problem with these little cuties!" He laughed, Patting Nebby's head.

The professor laughed, and reached into one of his lab coat pockets. "Now then, before I forget, i wanted to give these to you to make today even more special!" out of his pocket he pulled two objects, one had a green case, the other blue, and both had odd pentagonal shapes, if both sides of the pentagon went inward before going downward. At the bottom of the pentagons were two nubs, and had a gray screen in the center, with two ovals above and connected to the screen, with a black half circle between the ovals. He handed the green cased object to Willow, and the Blue cased object to Sapphire. "A pokédex is a real high tech object, yeah? They store knowledge of all known pokémon on them, including types, habitats, cry's, and a bunch of other awesome stuff, cousin! Check out your pokémon with them!"

Sapphire pointed the pokédex towards Riolu, causing the pokédex screen to light up, as a picture of a riolu appeared on the screen, with its typing, fighting, and known moves, as well as several options beneath the pokémon. "Riolu: The emanation pokémon." the pokédex began, a monotone voice emanated from the speakers. "riolu's can sense emotions and intentions through aura, and despite being a small and young pokémon, they are hardy and powerful, being able to cross multiple mountains and canyons in a single night."

"Cool! But if that's true, you don't get to use the excuse of being tired to ride on my shoulder!" Riolu stuck his tongue out, and Sapphire turned back to the professor. Thanks, this is awesome!"

"One more thing!" he reached back into his pocket, and pulled out two small booklets, both pale blue on the outside. "Your trainer passports! I've had them ready for a while, but I wanted to give them all out at the same time!"

"Thank you, professor, I'll make sure not to lose them," Willow said, smiling, as Sapphire made a sound of agreement.

"Well, it's been a productive day, hasn't it? You've met the Kahuna, got your starters, er, second pokémon, and got your pokédex's and trainer passports!"

"Yep! Admittedly, i'm feeling a bit tired from the whole Tapu thing. Kinda freaky almost dying, you know? Hey Willow, want to walk back to town together?"

"I'd love to." She smiled at him and he grinned widely and they began walking out of the village, before a Hala stopped them.

"Young ones, before you leave, when the Tapu saved you, did he leave anything behind?"

Sapphire looked at Willow, before taking his backpack off, and fishing through one of the pockets, pulling out the stone. "Yeah, it left behind this." Willow as well took out her stone, holding it out.

Kahuna hala took both stones, furrowing his brows as he looked down at them. The professor walked up behind him and looked at the stones as well. "Kahuna, aren't these…?"

"Indeed." He looked between both the trainers before him, and more muttered to himself than anyone else. "So it even deigned to give them stones…" He cleared his throat, and spoke up, now addressing the two of them. "Perhaps you both moved to Alola, because this is where you are meant to be. Would the two of you allow me to borrow these stones? Do not worry, I will return the tomorrow."

"I would be fine with this," Willow said, smiling.

"It's fine with me!"

Splendid! You both have the markings of brilliant trainers, I can see that light in both of you! Would the both of you like to participate in our festival tomorrow?"

"Sure, sounds awesome!"

"I would be fine with that."

"Well," the professor said, crossing his arms, "now that that's over, how about I walk you two back to Hau'oli village? And you should join us Lillie! We don't want to lose you or your pokémon twice in a single day!"

"Right…" she opened her bag, and motioned both pokémon in.

Nebby spiraled around Sapphires head before it dove in, while Nebbles flew in.

"Alright then," the professor said. "Let's get going!"

* * *

"See you guys!" Sapphire called, waving at the professor and Willow as he walked up the stairs. He turned and opened the door, looking for his mom. "Ma! I'm home!"

"Oh!" His mother walked out of her room, and placed her hands on her hips. "So, how was the trip?"

"It was awesome! Check out my new pokémon!" He threw the red and white sphere up, and with a flash of light Litten formed, walking between his legs, purring. "On the way to Iki town, We were attacked by a horde, and Litten saved us!"

"What a sweet little thing!" she bent down and scratched litten behind his ear, as he leant into her hand, and meowth narrowed his eyes from the table. The two cats looked at each other and hissed, as meowth scrambled around the table and Litten crawled up Sapphire's clothes, onto his shoulder, pushing past Riolu and digging his claws into his shirt and shoulder, hissing. "Or maybe not!" She giggled, watching as Riolu fell off his shoulder, and Sapphire tried to pry his claws out of his shirt.

"OY! OY! LITTEN! NO, CLAWS OUT OF THE SHIRT!" Sapphire fell over trying to pull Litten off, as Riolu presumably cheered one of them on from the sideline. Meanwhile, Sapphire's mother laughed, clutching her stomach, while meowth smirked and licked his paw.

Sapphire stood back up, holding Litten at arm's length, His hair tousled, and Litten's fur standing on end. "No." Litten just purred. He grinned and placed him down on the ground. "Well then. First day together, we battle together, run over a raging river together and fight each other. We're gonna be a great time. So to celebrate, we need a nickname."

"O. Riolu."

"Well we haven't decided on a nickname for you have we?"

"Olu."

"Don't use that tone of voice with me!" He grinned. "We have to name you something special, or something that corresponds with you as a pokémon, alright? And as for Litten…" Litten tilted his head, large eyes looking at Sapphire. "Claw." Litten tilted his head. "Claws? One meow for Claw, two for Claws." Litten meowed twice. "Claws it is!"

"Riolu!"

"Alright, alright, I'll come up with something. Let me sleep on it."

"On that note, what are you going to be doing for the rest of the day?"

Sapphire grinned and cradled Claws, while Riolu climbed up his shoulder. "Time for training!"

* * *

"Alright, bought some regular pokéballs, in case I want to catch some new pokémon, and a nice open space to train out of the way on route one. Now what's first?"

"Litten.

"Rio."

"Hey, we only battled. Battling is nothing like training. Except for practice bouts… okay, maybe it's kind of like battling, but my point stands."

"Olu."

"Well excuse me, but how am I supposed to know how pokémon trainers train?" Sapphire placed his bag down and reached inside it, pulling out the pokédex, pointing it at Riolu. "But a good first step would probably be knowing what you both know." He pressed one of the several buttons that appeared under Riolu, which gave a list of moves he knew.

A list of moves appeared to the side of Riolu's picture, along with abilities. "Alright then, endure, quick attack, foresight, counter, you know a good few moves! What's an egg move?"

"Egg moves are moves that pokémon inherit from their parents." Sapphire looked down at the pokédex and shrugged.

"Well that's helpful. Okay, blaze kick, I guess that was the move you used when your leg caught fire. High jump kick, low kick, sky uppercut, jeez, you got a lot of moves from your parents." Riolu grinned and placed his hands on his hips. "Alright, abilities. Steadfast, boosts your speed when flinching, was that what happened when that yungoos bit you?"

"Olu."

"I'm guessing that was a probably then." He chuckled. "And any other abilities are listed as unknown."

"Known Riolu abilities are steadfast, Inner focus, and prankster. Riolu currently only has Steadfast unlocked." The pokédex finished with a beep.

"Okay then. Claws, how about you?" he pointed the pokédex at Claws and clicked through the options. "Ember, scratch, lick, growl, and some good egg moves, Crunch, fake out, yeah, that's pretty good!"

"Lit." Sapphire blinked and looked down at Claws.

"Er, sorry, but we haven't been together long enough for me to kind of understand what you're saying like Riolu. I mean, it's only been half a day," he chuckled. There was an awkward pause, before he clapped his hands together. "Right, so. First up… um. Any ideas?"

Riolu rolled his eyes and held up his paws, miming punching. "Ah, right! A duel! Fisticuffs! Mano a mano, or poké a poké!" Riolu and Claws stared at him. Sapphire coughed into his hand. "Okay then."

"So!" Sapphire clapped his hands, and pointed them to stand opposite each other. "Alright, we're doing this off the top of my head, but the plan is, you battle each other, and I throw out random attacks and weird plans, that the other pokémon has to avoid, or find a way to counter." Riolu threw him a thumbs up, and Claws shook out his fur. "Alright… GO!"

Immediately Riolu darted forward punching towards where Claws just was, who had dodged to the side, growling. Claws retaliated by scratching at Riolu, who ducked backwards, dodgung Claws' continuous scratches. "Riolu, endure into counter!" Riolu grinned, and blocked Claws' next scratch, lessening the damage through endure, and dishing back twice the amount back into Claws though counter.

Claws ducked back, hissing, and gasped, before spitting several fireballs several of which Riolu dodged, but two of which he didn't. He barked at the feeling of the hot fire, before speeding forward to try and catch Claws again. Claws, readied himself, spreading apart his paws, preparing to pounce. "Claws, fake out, then crunch!" Riolu tried to stop, but couldn't in time, as Claws pounced forward. Instead, Riolu tried to block, but Claws feinted forward, before jumping behind his guard and attacking from behind, causing him to flinch, before Claws bit down on his leg, causing him to cry out and kick him away.

Riolu barked and lit his leg aflame kicking outwards, causing Claws to grit his teeth as he skidded away. He jumped forward, throwing multiple punches noticeably faster. "I guess that was steadfast activating!" Sapphire grinned. "Now, quick attack, then use the momentum to grab him and throw!" Riolu quickly turned into a blur and crashed into Claws, grabbing him by the head and spinning, throwing him into the bushes. "Nice!"

Riolu turned and playfully flexed. "Olu riolu!"

"So did i just teach you how to use circle throw? Because you didn't know it before, and that kind of looked like it."

"Ri."

"...Claws is taking an awfully long time to come out of those bushes…" Sapphire jogged forward, before jumping back as Claws tumbled out of the bushes hissing as a small pokémon jumped out, mostly gray, with a red head and large eyes, with two large red and yellow tusks… large for its body's size anyway, considering it was only about a foot tall.

"Sweet!" Sapphire pointed the pokédex at it, pressing the screen.

"Grubbin: The larva pokémon. Grubbin can spit a strong and sticky webbing, which they can use to trap pokémon, before using their powerful mandibles to take them down." The grubbin clicked at them threateningly, as Claws hissed, hackles raised.

"Alright, Riolu, back up, Claws will handle this one." Riolu backed up, as Claws and the grubbin circled each other. "Alright Claws, let's light 'em up! It's a bug type, so use fire type attacks!" Claws pounced, scratching at grubbin, who retaliated by throwing mud into Claws' face. Claws hissed and backed up, pawing at his own face trying to get rid of the mud. "Claws, duck back!" Not reacting in time, Claws was thrown back as the grubbin tackled him, before spitting string at him, causing him to get tangled in the sticky webbing.

"Oh boy…" Claws growled and thrashed around in the webbing, before crying out as the grubbin grabbed him on either side with its mandibles, squeezing. "Claws, ember on yourself!" Claws Huffed and breathed out, alighting his fur and the webbing, and causing grubbin to cry out at the feeling of the flames. As it backed away clicking, Claws huffed and licked at his fur, sitting back and smirking at the retreating bug.

"Claws, don't get cocky, it's not out of it yet." The grubbin began shaking, and sparks appeared across its body, before it spat more string at Claws. He dodged, jumping over the webs, before sparks from a nearby web leaped onto his passing paw, causing him to tumble, and get stuck in the electrified webbing. "Claws!" grubbin began charging up again, more sparks appearing this time, before it leaped forward, smashing into litten and throwing him back, getting more webbing onto him, throwing sparks everywhere.

"Ah crap! Riolu, swap in!" Riolu began running forward, before pausing as Claws glowed red, and his eyes opened glowing even brighter yellow, opening his jaws wide as possible, and crunching down on the grubbin, flames bursting from his fangs. "WHOA! That's some serious heat!"

Sapphire pointed the pokédex at Claws as the grubbin struggled in its jaws. "Ability: blaze. When the pokemons health is low, blaze will activate, enhancing the power of all fire type moves."

"Awesome! Alright Claws, ember! Full force!" With the grubbin still stuck in his jaws, Claws breathed in, and unleashed his strongest ember. Enhanced by the power of blaze, the embers came out in a single continuous stream of heat, evolving into a flamethrower. The grubbin was consumed by the flames, before rolling out, eyes turned into swirls as it lay unconscious in the scorched grass.

"Nice Claws! Alright, some of those were electric type attacks, I think, and we could use that on our team!" he grabbed a pokéball from his bag, and spun it on his finger, before throwing it at the fainted bug. "Pokéball go!" The red and white sphere bounced off of the grubbin's tusk, before absorbing it in red light, and falling to the floor. It barely wiggled, before dinging, the grubbin within being acknowledged as his pokémon. "Nice! I caught a grubbin!" Riolu jumped onto his shoulder and cheered, while Claws rubbed against his feet, purring, before laying down and huffing. "Right, you're probably exhausted. Return, Claws!" Claws became white light, and was reabsorbed into the pokéball, as Sapphire smiled and returned the ball to his bag.

"Alright, that's probably enough for today. Back to the house Riolu!" Riolu yipped and stretched, as he chuckled and rubbed the small pokémon's head. He looked down at the now full pokéball he held, and tilted his head. "So, nickname ideas?" Riolu shrugged, looking at the pokéball. "Mandi?" Riolu gave him a look. "You know, mandibles?" The look intensified. "Alright, not Mandi." The road underfoot transitioned from soft dirt to hard concrete as he walked onto the sidewalk of Hau'oli Village's gray street. "Storm?" Riolu's look turned from judging to contemplative. "You know, Electric attacks? And maybe it evolves into a electric type."

"Olu!" Riolu nodded finally, crossing his arms.

"Well, I guess we also have to make sure Grubbin is alright with that nickname, or a nickname at all."

"Ri"

"Well, if Grubbin is alright with it, Storm it is," He said, chuckling. "Our little team is coming together." He spun the pokéball, and placed it back in his bag, looking out onto the beach, into the setting sun.

* * *

 **And so ends chapter three. Or chapter two if you don't count prologues as chapters. I'm currently looking for a beta, so I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar errors, they're my own fault. Hope you enjoyed, next chapter coming out on July 21st.**


	4. Chapter 4: Festival

**Chapter four appears, out of the mist. The first large battle, that takes a large chunk of the chapter. Gotta admit, writing a three way battle is kind of tough, but fun. Won't take up anymore time, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Festival

Sapphire snored away, a small line of drool trailing out of the corner of his mouth. Riolu muttered and twitched in his sleep on his right, and Claws curled up purring on his left. On his chest Storm slumbered quietly. The grubbin having accepted both the nickname and having a trainer the night before.

A ring came from the doorbell, and Sapphire snorted, kicking his leg and shifting. Another ring and Storm shifted, small sparks appearing on his body. Banging on the front door finally awoke Storm, who did not not appreciate the disturbance.

"GRUB!" Storm let loose a large wave of electricity from his body, shocking Both pokémon and the human awake, throwing them off the bed. Sapphire coughed, eyes resembling swirls as he lay in his blackened pajamas on the hardwood floor, wisps of smoke floating off his body. He groaned and stood up, shaking his head.

"Really Storm? Why?" Storm just chittered smugly and walked onto Sapphire's pillow, crawling in a circle and going back to sleep. Sapphire sighed, and brushed off his clothing, some of the ash falling off. He picked up Riolu and Claws, placing them back on the bed, both their bodies also covered in soot with swirls for eyes. More banging from the front door sounded and he sighed, which seamlessly turned into a yawn. "Yeah, I'm coming."

Sapphire walked out of his room and looked for his mom, but only saw a notepad on the kitchen counter. He picked it up and read it, as he scratched his stomach. "Blah blah, out for groceries. Ah great." The doorbell rang again and he placed the pad back down, walking to the door.

He opened the front door to see the professor and Willow standing on his porch. "Er, hey professor, Willow. Sorry, mom was out, and I was asleep."

"Yes, we can see that," Willow said, hiding a smile behind one of her hands as she indicated his pajamas with her other hand.

Sapphire chuckled blushing, as he rubbed the back of his head, and the professor laughed shaking his head. "I came by to get both of you. I was going to show you both how to catch pokémon, before I'd head off to help with preparing Iki town for the festival!"

'Uh, well come in, and I'll change into actual clothes." he walked back inside with the professor and Willow following him. They both sat down at the table as he walked into his room, quickly grabbing his clothes and changing.

"Olu...?" Riolu asked, tilting his head, as he sat on the side of the bed.

"Morning bud! It's the professor and Willow." Sapphire removed his shirt and tossed it onto Riolu's head. Riolu pulled the shirt off and tossed it aside barking back snarkily. "You mind waking the other two? And then get my pack." Riolu looked nervously at Storm, sleeping peacefully next to Claws' unconscious form. "Oh just put them in their pokéballs then. Look at you, worried over a little lightning bug."

"Olu olu…" He muttered, sifting through Sapphires bag, until he picked up Storm and Claws' pokéballs, and returned them both. Sapphire just laughed and finished buckling his belt, before walking over and picking up the backpack, as Riolu climbed onto his shoulder. "Ri."

"My shoes are by the front door. You think mom would let me track mud into my room?" Riolu snickered as he laughed, and they exited the room, to see their two guests laughing over some joke. "Hey, ready to go?"

"Yes, let's," Willow said, standing up. Sapphire grinned and slipped on his sneakers next to the front door. He exited and held it open for his two compatriots, before locking the door behind them.

"So, what were we doing again?"

"We rush on over to route one as if we were using agility, and I teach you how to catch pokémon, as if I were using instruct!"

"Er, slight problem… I kind of already caught a pokémon… and know how to catch pokémon." Kukui and Willow looked at him. "What?

"Well, firstly it's impressive that you caught a pokémon on your first day as a trainer," Willow started, "and secondly, you know how to catch pokémon but don't know how to battle them?"

"Hey! It's kind of easier to understand pokémon catching on your first day than it is battling in your first battle!" Riolu patted his head sympathetically.

"...Well, at least I can still teach one of you!"

"Uh, sorry, professor, but my parents taught me how to catch pokémon when we got Cream."

"Oh…" The professor looked down, dejected. "Well, I guess I'll head to Iki town to prepare for the festival.

"Lu." Riolu snickered as Sapphire sighed, flicking Riolu's forehead.

"Sorry professor!" He called, shaking his head. "So what now? I was awakened for nothing!"

"The festival is at twilight, so we have most of the day. I'd suggest training, but I won't have you finding out my secret techniques!"

Sapphire chuckled in response, shaking his head. "Alright fair enough. I can say the same for you too! So… want to also help with the festival?"

"Sure. Although maybe we should take the other route to Iki town." They looked down the road to see the professor skulking down the path.

* * *

"…And then Anthony switched it on, and it worked for maybe a full second before it exploded in his face!"

"What?!" Willow cried, holding her stomach laughing.

"Yeah! A months work down the drain in a second!"

"Was he hurt?"

"Only his pride! Oh, and maybe a part of his face when one of the gears slammed into it! He had a bruise in the shape of a gear for months!" They both laughed, and Sapphire wiped away some of the tears as he shook his head. "Anyway, that's how he got the nickname Gearface, and I've been calling him that for years."

"You two sound close."

"Are you kidding me? We've been best friends since childhood!"

"Olu…"

"Jeez, Riolu, he's my human best friend, and you're my pokémon best friend! Happy?

"Olu!"

Willow giggled at their byplay, shaking her head. "Are you planning on visiting him when you're done travelling Alola?"

"I told him that when I finished with the Alola league, I'd come back and we can travel Kanto. but since you have those trial things, I guess when I've beaten each islands grand trial."

"We do do things differently than other regions that's for sure."

"You're telling me." Sapphire turned back to the stage and finished inspecting the boards. "Alright, looks stable enough. What about on your end?"

"It's all good over here."

"At least we got the easy job of making sure the stage was sturdy. I'm horrible at building! I'm all thumbs when I use a hammer!"

"...Was the joke supposed to be that you always injure your hand when building because you accidentally hit it with a hammer?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I guess it was alright. Not your best joke. And it was a pun so, yeah. That lowers the value of the joke."

"Hey! Puns are amazing forms of humor, thank you very much!"

"Keep telling yourself that Sapphire."

He snorted and stretched his arms, jostling Riolu. "Sorry bud. And Willow, just call me Sapph. It's quicker, and all my friends call me that!"

Willow looked at him for a moment, before looking up at the sky. "I… don't have much experience with friends."

"You're kidding!" He looked at her melancholy face, before turning away. "...Well nobody says we can't be friends even if we're rivals."

She looked at him, and nodded, a small smile growing. "...Thanks."

"So do you want to talk about it, orrr…"

"No… Right now the festival is almost ready, right? It's a celebration, this is not the time for sad tales of the past, but festivities that will inspire hope for the future."

"Well that wasn't weirdly poetic or anything," He said, chuckling. Willow giggled, and he grinned, blushing, before waving over the professor. "Hey professor! Stage is in tip top shape and ready for action!"

"Awesome job, cous! The rest of us are going to finish up our work, so you two can go off and have fun preparing or something! Just remember to be back before twilight!"

Sapphire pulled out Claws' pokéball, feeling it wobble on its own. He turned to Willow, tilting his head. "We're going to do some last minute training, want to join us, or…?"

"No, I think we both are going to want privacy during our practice."

"Fair enough," he responded, chuckling. "See you during the festival then!" he waved, walking away, before speaking to the two pokéballs in his hand. "Alright guys, I looked over your moves again last night. I also checked what moves Hau and Willow's pokémon should know, what they can do, and I've got a few ideas for some plans and techniques…"

* * *

Sapphire breathed out, fingering Claws' pokéball while Riolu sat on his shoulder calmly. Sapphire's eyes flicked between Willow's calm and serene form to Hau's happy form, hopping from foot to foot. The torches around the stage flickered, and Hala stood near a corner, watching the three beginner trainers.

"For all of the life on the islands, and for those who undertake the island challenge with joy in their hearts, we pray for your protection, for them and all Melemele. May this pokémon battle be an offering to our islands guardian deity, Tapu Koko," Hala spoke.

"Before you stands Hau, grandson to the Kahuna." Hau stopped hopping back and forth, and climbed the first staircase onto the stage, and threw out a thumbs up.

"Against him stands Willow, one who was greeted by Tapu Koko just yesterday." As people began whispering, Willow climbed her set of stairs and folded her arms behind her back, enlarging and shrinking Cream's pokéball.

"And finally is Sapphire, who was saved by and met the Tapu on his second day on the islands." The whispers were louder, but Sapphire ignored them as he climbed the third and final staircase, throwing Claws' pokéball back and forth between his hands.

"What?"

"Second day?"

"What a curious thing our tapu is! That's just typical of it!"

"Hey you two!" Hau grinned and closed his eyes. "As long as we all have a good time, I bet it'll be a great battle!"

"Of course. I wish you both good luck." Willow nodded, a small smile on her face.

"You as well." Sapphire grinned at her and winked at Hau.

Hala threw his arm forward suddenly, brow furrowed. "Sapphire, Hau, Willow! Bring forth the power of your pokémon!" Hau grinned and brought out a pokéball, tossing it forward, almost unbalancing. Willow smiled and calmly threw her ball underhanded, form displaying calm and elegance. Sapphire smirked and flipped down his sunglasses, torchlight shining off them, and threw out his arm for Riolu to run down.

"Alright Pichu! Let's have some fun!"

"I require your assistance, Cream."

"Riolu, time to shine!"

Two white lights signalled Cream and Pichu coming out of their pokéballs, and Riolu leaped down onto the stage, Settling into a fighting stance, while Cream breathed out with a soft "Pur…" and Pichu let electricity flow across his fur with excitement.

"BEGIN!"

* * *

Riolu spread his feet, bringing forth a paw, energy flowing around him as he felt the auras in the area. Sapphire was confident, yet nervous, but overall excited. Willow was calm on the surface, but her aura showed she was uncertain. Hau was just completely excited. Not out of arrogance, but just wanting to have a good time.

Cream was almost the complete opposite of Willow, being almost fully nervous with a smidge of confidence, while Pichu was just like Hau, fully excited for the battle.

Riolu shook his head and focused. Cream had type advantage, but that wasn't everything, and he wasn't sure how powerful she was. If her demeanor was a sign, she wasn't that strong, but even if this was one of his first battles he wouldn't underestimate an opponent based on their demeanor.

Pichu though… he did not know what to think. Completely excited, but he did not look that tough. But he may have been more powerful than he looked. For now, all three pokémon were waiting for a signal to begin. It would be unspoken… it would be fast…

It would be… now!

Riolu leapt forward kicking at Pichu with a flaming leg, as Pichu tried to shock him with a thundershock, and Cream threw a psychic attack at him. He grumbled as Pichu ducked back from his leg, why did they both have to target him? Sure, his sudden movement may have drew their attention, but Cream couldn't have thrown a confusion or something at Pichu to distract him?

Riolu refocused and swept his leg out, tripping pichu who let out a yelp and flailed his short arms as he fell. "Riolu, detect!" Riolu's eyes glowed red, and his aura sensing abilities peaked without it requiring the usual effort. He sensed Cream's sneak attack, a large wall of psychic energy about to smash into him from behind. He dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the edge of the invisible wall, while the main bulk of it smashed into Pichu.

"Nice job, Riolu!" He turned to see Sapphire throwing a thumbs up and he threw back one of his own, before turning to Cream. The detect was still active but waning, and he had to concentrate more to sense Cream's intent. Several psychic balls of energy formed, and were quickly shot at him.

Being condensed energy instead of a wall, it was visible as pink tinted energy. But by using aura, he sensed several weaker balls that were invisible, due to being less condensed. Riolu waited, lowering his stance, as the energy flew closer, waiting until the last moment. The ball slammed down… directly where he stood a second ago, creating a cloud of dust and splinters, as Riolu leaped over it. He twisted midair to dodge the second and third, and grimaced as that put him in a position such that the fourth skimmed his fur.

He landed in time to dodge two others by sliding, letting out a bark as he kicked a weaker invisible orb in a way that caused the explosion to do minimal damage. At the same time, the explosion caused his momentum to increase, as he was thrown above the rest, and launched straight at Cream.

Cream panicked and waved her arms wildly as he hurtled down at her. "Cream, Confusion! Try to catch him midair!" Riolu felt himself begin to slow, but not in time, as he crashed into Cream, throwing her back. He charged forward, idly feeling the presence of two of the dodged invisible orbs following him. He dashed forward, quick attack giving him the speed to attack before Cream could recover, and slammed several palm strikes into her body.

"Reflect and then barrier, prevent him from doing any more damage! He shouldn't know any ranged attacks yet!"

"Reading up on an opponents pokémon before a match is cheating! Well, I guess then I'd be a cheater too. Alright, Riolu! Like we discussed!" Riolu grinned, and spread his legs, before performing a backflip, as the two invisible orbs flew under him, phasing through the reflect shield, and smashing into Cream. "Alright!"

Willow sighed, before chuckling. "Very well, that was rather clever. You read that espurr's can increase their defense to physical moves with various abilities, and since you figured I'd read that riolu don't learn many special attack type moves, you used cream's own attacks against her."

A sudden thunderbolt smashed into Riolu, causing him to spasm, as Pichu finally re-entered the fight. "I hope you haven't forgotten about us!" shouted Hau, pointing at Sapphire.

"Uh…" Sapphire scratched the back of his head, chuckling sheepishly. "Sorry, but I kind of did."

"Olu" Riolu nodded as well, barking an apology.

Pichu and Hau both sweatdropped, before Hau shook his head. "Well it doesn't matter, we won't be forgotten this time! Pichu, thundershock!" a powerful bolt of electricity was blasted at Riolu, who rolled to the side.

"Olu!" Riolu narrowed his eyes. That was much stronger than the earlier bolt, which meant that while he had been distracted fighting Cream, Pichu must have been charging up. Why didn't he have any set up moves, or defenses against them?! He ducked another bolt, focusing on the aura in the air around him, making sure Cream wouldn't sneak attack him, which worked as as a wave of energy barely missed him..

"Riolu! We have to focus only on one of them! Keep your focus on Pichu, and trust me, no matter what!"

"Ri _it!"_ Sapphire grinned as he heard and felt his trust, before nodding.

"Dodge left!" Riolu ducked to the left, an orb of energy flying past him, and narrowly missing Pichu. At the same time, he launched a shock at Riolu, who was slightly hurt.

"Roll!" He dropped, rolling, as a horizontal wave of orbs flew above him. Pichu panicked, flailing his arms as the orbs approached, ducking just in time.

"Charge again, then blast it all in one final shock!" Pichu set apart his feet, squeaking as electricity weaved around him.

"Riolu, I can't give away the plan, but you'll know what to do, won't you?" Riolu narrowed his eyes, and prepared. He had a fair idea what the plan was. If he remembered where Cream was, relative to when he stopped sensing her, then… yes, that could work.

He would need to be quick, sense when the attacks would approach, and when they would hit. He began focusing, aura subtly building as he prepared.

"Thundershock! Full blast!"

"Psychic sphere, Cream! Condense them all into one!"

Sapphire narrowed his eyes, watching as the sphere of psychic energy spheres were condensed into one. Now, the sphere was about as big as Riolu, and flew at him quite fast for its size. Meanwhile at the other end, the thundershock was being built up, and would be near instant. This would have to be perfectly timed. "Riolu! Ready?!"

Riolu barked, aura building. The air around him was wavering, the orb was inches away, and the lightning build up was at full charge. His eyes snapped open, his perception of time slowing down. He felt the orb centimeters from his skin, he felt the thunder tear through the air, and he felt the emotions and life force of everything nearby. " _Ready."_

He breathed out, Cobalt light bursting from his form, as he sidestepped the bolt of electricity calmly. The aura flared off his body and warped the electricity, causing it to flow around him as if space was warped. At the same time, he ducked, moving his body fluidly to allow the orb of energy to flow over his arm, and let him manipulate it into moving faster.

"Cream! Light shield!"

"AH! Pichu! Duck or something!"

Pichu tried to run, but the orb was too fast and smashed into him, throwing him back and knocking him out. Cream threw up a wall of light shields, which took the brunt of the electric attack, but much of it still hit home, shocking Cream.

"Cream, can you still fight?!" Cream struggled to her feet, and another orb started forming overhead, before it dispersed, as Cream fell over, swirls for eyes.

Riolu stood in the center of the stage, cobalt light flowing from his form. "Alright! Nice job, bud!"

He turned and grinned weakly, energy spent from the fight. " _Please. It was too easy."_ He stumbled, the light fading as he gripped his head. " _By the way, do you mind recalling me? I feel slightly…"_ he began falling, until a red light hit him, and drew him back into his pokéball.

* * *

"Rest easy bud, you did amazing." Sapphire smiled down at the pokéball, and looked up to see the other two trainers recalling their pokémon. "Right." he breathed out, swapped Claws' and Riolu's pokéballs in his pocket, and enlarged the ball, spinning it on his finger. He leaned back and threw the ball, tossing it with a spin.

"Claws, burn 'em up!"

"Let's go, Popplio!"

"Go on, Rowlet, let's win this."

* * *

Claws shook his head as he popped out of the ball, and licked his paw, observing the other two pokemon. As they were released. Rowlet fluttered down gently, and Popplio barked as she landed.

He idly stood up, and flit his tail from side to side, preparing several flames within his stomach. His ears lifted as he prepared for Sapphire's orders. "Alright, let's start it off with a bang Claws! Ember towards Popplio!"

Claws turned, breathing out several fireballs at the sea lion pokémon, who barked and sang a high charming note that flew and disrupted the fireballs. Popplio clapped, and then panicked as Litten jumped through the remaining wall of fire, and bit down on her flipper.

Popplio was still for a moment, before screeching, and flailing her flipper, throwing Claws off. Claws bounced for a moment, shaking his head and hissing. A sudden fluttering alerted him to Rowlet, and he rolled to the side, as powerful gusts of wind tore up part of the stage. He turned his attention to Rowlet, lowering himself to the floor.

Rowlet flew in, scratching at Claws with his talons, who pounced at the same time, wreathing his teeth in flames. Claws grimaced at the feeling of the talons scraping across his stomach and bit down hard on Rowlet's wing. Rowlet screeched, and frantically tried to throw him off, until both of them were shot by the forgotten Popplio's water gun.

Claws and Rowlet tumbled across the arena, Rowlet was able to quickly get up, but Claws was a bit slower, as the water type attack did more damage to him. "Ooh, that may not be good." Claws shook the remaining water droplets off his coat, and tried to see what had made his trainer speak.

Popplio had a large bubble prepared around her head, and Popplio looked all too smug. "Alright Popplio," Hau started, hopping from foot to foot. "Sound shield and perish song!" Popplio quickly brought the water shield down around her ears, and began singing.

The song began high, and each note sung went higher and higher, becoming more and more unbearable. Claws immediately covered his ears and Rowlet tried covering his ear holes with his wings, but as the notes got higher they got louder. Out of the corner of Claws' eyes, he could see Sapphire and Willow wincing and holding their ears, Even Hau was grimacing, albeit with a painful smile, sticking his fingers in his ears.

The song eventually reached a crescendo, and ended, as Popplio gave a bow. Claws slumped forward, and noticed Rowlet doing the same, both of them panting. He suddenly flinched as a bolt of pain wracked through his head, the countdown of perish song beginning.

"Claws!" He turned, to see Sapphire grimacing as he shook his head. "Prioritise Popplio! She protected herself from the perish song!" Claws turned back to the water type, who took the bubble from her head and surrounded her body with it, healing the bite marks on her flipper. Claws breathed in and fired several embers at Popplio, which were absorbed by the aqua ring shield. Popplio clapped her flippers, and shot out another water gun, which she manipulated into two streams that both Rowlet and Claws dodged by jumping out of the way.

"Lit!" Claws turned and and spoke to Rowlet, building up fire in his stomach.

"Row." Rowlet turned and hooted in response to Claws, flying up above him.

Claws attacked first, charging at Popplio, Dodging another water gun attack, and shooting several embers which combined into a weak stream of fire. The pseudo flamethrower caused the watery shield to steam up, and Popplio to panic. She blew several bubbles, firing them at Claws.

He tried to dodge, but flinched as the Perish song countdown lowered. Luckily Rowlet flew above him and flapped his wings hard, sending waves of icy air into the bubbles, freezing and slowing them. Claws shook his head and weaved around the frozen bubbles as they smashed into the stage, out of Popplio's control, splintering into shards.

"Claws! Jump and breath fire, surround yourself!" Claws turned and nodded, before leaping into the air, Rowlet flying under him and giving him a boost.

"Litten!" he breathed out, the flames surrounding his body, and he curled into a ball. He quickly resembled a meteor, shooting down at Popplio's bubble. She tried to move out of the way, but Rowlet sent more icy waves forward, freezing the bubble of water enough that Popplio would either have to exit to try and dodge, or weather the attack within.

Unable to decide in time, Popplio took the full brunt of the attack, Claws' flaming body smashing through the iced over shell, and through the dense water. The watery shell exploded into steam, and Popplio was tossed out, rolling head over flippers.

"Rowlet, leafage, finish her off." Rowlet hooted, flying up, and letting loose a barrage of feathers, glowing green with grass type energy.

"Popplio, move!" Popplio struggled to stand, shaking her head, and attempted to move out of the way, before collapsing, as the barrage slammed into her. She succumbed to it, fainting when the attack finally finished. "Aw man…"

Claws shook his head, getting back to his feet, his head hurting from a combination of the Perish song countdown nearing the end, and the impact.

He tensed up suddenly, and jumped to the side, dodging a burst of foul feeling air. "Watch out! Ominous wind can increase all of his stats at once!"

He hissed, turning to Rowlet. He was tired as well, but less so then himself. Rowlet would win, despite the type disadvantage… unless he could last until the countdown ended.

He jumped back as another ominous wind washed across the stage, splintering it. Claws built up heat within his mouth, and exhaled it in a powerful heat wave attack. Rowlet countered with the haze attack, the two opposing elemental attacks clashed, creating a steam explosion.

Rowlet shielded himself with one of his wings, being pushed back slightly from the force. He unfurled his wings, flapping away some of the steam encroaching on him, looking for Claws. A sudden dark shape appeared in the cloud, and Claws shot out, scratch attack meeting Rowlet's response, a quick peck attack. Rowlet and claws struggled for a moment for a moment, before Rowlet flipped his beak up, throwing him back into the steam.

"Rowlet, defog." Rowlet hooted, and flapped his wings over and over, sending a wave of wind forward. The steam cleared away, revealing an empty stage, besides the damage done to the stage itself. "Behind you!" Rowlet spun in place, but wasn't quick enough to block a fireball from Claws, who had sprinted around behind him while in the steam.

Claws charged as Rowlet was still reeling, teeth glowing bright red as he channeled fire through them, leaping forward. Unfortunately, Rowlet recovered quicker than he expected, and threw another ominous wind at him, throwing him back. He staggered to his paws, and rolled to the side as several feathers whistled by, hissing. He breathed out embers, meeting more of the feathers halfway.

A sudden cold wind buffeted him, and he grit his teeth as parts of his fur became frosty and he felt his paws begin to be frozen to the stage. Rowlet was hovering, sending icy winds at Claws who was becoming more frozen by the second. "Rowlet, finish it. Elemental winds." Rowlet concentrated, the winds around him becoming mixtures of haze, ominous wind, defog, and leafage, and prepared to fire it all at Claws' immobile form.

"Claws, get out of there! Immolation!" Claws hissed, and built up heat, before his fur burst into flames. The ice began melting, and he worked his legs around, until one leg smashed free, and a second began cracking. "Claws, brace!" Claws looked up, and saw Rowlet finish manipulating the winds, and cringed back, preparing to be knocked unconscious, before fainting.

* * *

Sapphire blinked, before laughing, as both Rowlet and Claws, rather anticlimactically, fainted as perish song finally finished its countdown. The various elemental winds around Rowlet's unconscious form dispersed as he fell, and was recalled before he could hit the floor. "Well that didn't end how I expected it to!"

"It certainly was an interesting end," Willow responded, crossing her arms.

"Kind of anticlimactic. But I guess that was my fault!" Hau laughed, and rubbed his neck.

"Looks like that was a draw," Sapphire began, returning Claws' flaming, yet frozen form. "But since you were about to win anyway, I think that counts more towards a win for you, rather than a draw."

"Maybe. But I'll accept a draw."

They both turned to Hala as he laughed by the side of the stage. "Haha! Another great battle this year! I'll bet even Tapu Koko liked it!"

"Yeah that was totally awesome! Fighting both of you was a blast!" Hau gesticulated wildly, laughing.

"Ko-Ko-Kooooo!" Sapphire looked up towards the shrine, and could barely see a yellow shape in the distance. With a thunderous _crack_ the figure blasted away, leaving a yellow trail.

"Ho! You all heard it yourselves! Tapu Koko's song of approval!" As the crowd murmured to each other, the three trainers walked to the edge of the stage.

"Did you guys see that?!" Hau jumped up and down, looking into the distance.

"Yeah, I guess the Tapu was watching!"

"Perhaps it was watching the whole time, and we were just too engrossed in the battle to notice."

"Children!" The trainers turned to see Hala walk up, holding two black objects in his hands. "I wanted to wait until after the ceremony, but I think it's time you take these." Sapphire and Willow took the objects, and saw they were black rings. The top had a white arrow, and in the center was a white hourglass shape, with a smaller 'Z' like shape in the center of that. Sapphire slipped the ring onto his left wrist, twisting it in wonder.

"The Z-Power Rings, mysterious armbands that draw out the power and potential that lie deep within you and your pokémon… It brings forth their Z-Power!"

Sapphire's eye twitched for a moment. "What in the what now?"

"We kahuna's can create Z-Power Rings using stones like the ones you two received from Tapu Koko the other day. You will need to undergo the island challenge to collect Z-Crystals of your own, so you can then draw forth your pokémon's Z-Power! And yet you have already received the sparkling stones… It seems Tapu Koko has taken a liking to both of you. Or perhaps has a mission for you…"

Sapphire and Willow glanced at each other and simultaneously shrugged in confusion. Professor Kukui laughed and walked up to the stage, behind the kahuna. "Either way, It's about time you both get out there and start your island challenge! If the Tapu does have a mission for you, maybe you'll find out while out on your journey!"

"Sounds good." Sapphire smiled and turned to Hau, with a more questioning tilt to his smile. "You'll be doing the island challenge too, right?"

"Of course! I can't wait to have a real adventure! With Popplio by my side, I'll be unstoppable!" Sapphire almost spoke up about how he just lost, before deciding not to rain on his parade.

The kahuna cleared his throat, and he turned back, Sapphire focusing on him. "You already know of the island challenge, a journey to overcome your own limitations, as you travel the islands and meet others along the path. Here are the island challenge amulets you will need."

"Cool, thanks Tutu!" Hau took the amulet and clipped it to one of the zippers on his backpack, grinning. "I'm gonna make it through the island challenge, and become an island challenge champion!" The kahuna smiled slightly, and turned to Willow.

Willow took hers and nodded, clipping it to one of the straps on her shoulder bag. "Thank you kahuna, I'll make sure to make good use of this chance." He nodded in return, and faced Sapphire.

Sapphire reached out and grasped his, looking down at it. It fit in the palm of his hand, and looked like a tan colored rectangle with two triangles on the sides. Within the left triangle was a smaller yellow triangle, the right one a dark purple one, and in the rectangle was a red and a white triangle. He reached around and clipped it onto one of his jeans belt loops, making sure it wouldn't fall if he moved quickly.

"Thanks." Sapphire turned and looked at where the sun had set, its rays scattered across the horizon. "I'll make sure I go far in my journey." Hala gave a small smile, and nodded.

* * *

Sapphire finished waving to Hau and turned around, hiking up his backpack and grinned at Willow and Lillie, while Kukui walked ahead of them. "So, I think that was pretty exciting."

Lillie smiled and looked back at the darkening sky, fidgeting with her bag. "Tapu Koko is pretty amazing, isn't it? I really hope we can meet it again one day, and thank it for saving Nebby and Nebbles."

"Cos!" She stumbled as her bag shook, and held it against her, making Sapphire chuckle and Willow giggle.

"Me too, I mean, it did save me and Willow. Meeting it again would be awesome."

Kukui turned and saw they had stopped to talk, and waved them forward. "Cmon! It's about time we all get back to Iki town!"

Sapphire chuckled and nodded, "Alright, but one thing before we head out." He expanded Riolu's pokéball and tossed it out, releasing Riolu. "Hey there bud, you feeling better?"

"Ri!" He smiled and nodded, stretching. "Olu?"

"Well, we didn't win, but we didn't lose. It was a draw, with Willow. But I'm counting it as a loss since it would have been one if perish song hadn't kicked in."

"Riolu…"

"Hey, it wasn't your fault you were so exhausted at the end of your battle. You don't have to feel bad about it." He kneeled and ruffled Riolu's fur, winking. "Besides, I think I came up with a nickname for you…"

"Lo?"

"How does Cobalt sound? I mean, the fur color, and also the aura thing in the battle was pretty cool, and had a cobalt color."

"Olu!" He climbed up Sapphire's body, and wrapped his arms around his neck, hugging him.

"Hey, alright bud, your grips a little tight!" Sapphire laughed, and returned the hug, before standing up, and letting Cobalt sit on his shoulder. "Alright guys, let's head back home then."

* * *

"Ma, I'm home!"

"So soon?" Sapphire's mother looked up from some of the boxes she had opened, and smiled. "I know you stayed behind to have your pokémon healed, but I thought you would stay a bit later!"

"Well, it was getting pretty late. And even if Cobalt and Claws are healed, they're still a bit tired from the battle." He smiled as Cobalt jumped down from his shoulder, and tried opening one of the boxes to help put stuff away.

"And what a battle it was! Ooh I was captivated to see you battling in such perfect sync with your partners! I know you wanted to do the gym challenge back in kanto, but now that we're in Alola, I guess you won't be going travelling then?"

"No, actually. I don't know if you heard about the island challenge at the end of the battle, but I've been studying it for a while, and it's pretty similar to the league challenges. I mean, I'm disappointed, because I promised Gearface we'd go explore kanto after he finished nursing school, but now that we're here I can go on the challenge while I wait."

"Oh. I see." Sapphire put down his bag and looked over to see his mother looked slightly worried. "If you're so disappointed that your first journey can't be with your best friend, then why not wait?"

"Well, I mean, we did everything together right? Classes, homework, I always helped with his weird experiments or machines, and he always made time to just hang out, play video games, I remember getting him hooked on a few games and he just wouldn't shut up about them…

"But I know he felt that he was holding me back when he decided to become a pokémon nurse, and we couldn't go out on our journey earlier. So I figure, as long as he's still studying, why not go on my own journey in the meantime? So when the time comes that we travel together, both of us help the other. I teach him how to train and battle, he helps me take care of our pokémon." Sapphire sighed and pulled out one of the chairs at the table, sitting down and looking at his mom. "Ma… why did we come to Alola?"

"...I told you, we-"

"Yeah, you told me a whole bunch of reasons to placate me. There may have been a large number of reasons we moved here, but what's the main one?"

"..." His mother was silent for a moment, before walking to the table, and pulling out her own chair. Cobalt looked between the two of them, before taking Sapphire's bag, and going to his room, leaving them alone. "What do you remember of your dad?"

Sapphire looked at her, and sighed, closing his eyes. "I remember playing with his pokémon, he only had enough for a full team. I remember whenever he came back for breaks from his journeys, and watching him during the leagues. I remember he left for another region to take on another league, and he didn't return."

"...Do you remember what region he left for?"

"I think I can guess."

She sighed, and looked up. "I never found out what happened to him, if he really died, or whatever actually happened. What island he was on, or if he was really in Alola at the time. What he was doing… But I have to believe that he died a hero." Sapphire's look turned questioning. "You might remember some stuff, but you were only four. He loved helping people. That was one of his biggest flaws, yet something I loved him for. He would do everything in his power to help people, at the expense of himself. I can't count how many times he got himself hurt for others, and somehow I just know that's how he died…"

Sapphire stayed silent, watching as his mother began crying. "And, and I knew that you would want to follow his footsteps, so when I found out that Alola didn't have a league, I thought moving here would stop you from going and hurting yourself like your father did, out on a journey, and at the same time, we could try and find how he died…"

"So, the reason we were saving so much money over the years was to get a place in Alola…" Sapphire sighed, looking out the window at the starry sky, before walking over to his mom and hugged her. "Mom… I'm going to be honest, I probably have too much of my dad in me. I mean, after hearing that, I guess I know why I like helping people so much, it's in my genes. But knowing that, I can't stop helping people. But… I promise to at least _try_ not to get into too many dangerous situations. I can't promise not to, because if I see someone in trouble, I'll be breaking that promise right away."

He rubbed her back, sighing, and shaking his head. "But now that I know this is the region dad probably died in, I have to go on this journey, and all the future journeys I planned to go on. And this one, at least, won't just be to explore the world, or to make new friends, or to grow like it was going to be for before, but to find him. And if I can't… at least find out where and how he died. Please mom. I've got to do this."

"I… understand. You definitely have too much of your father in you."

"Maybe. But that's probably why I'm just so dang awesome." his mom laughed, and nodded, wiping away some of her tears.

"Of course. I'll… Let's get to bed. I'll help you get ready for the challenge tomorrow."

"All right mom. Good night." He walked into his room, changing into his pajamas, before turning and seeing Cobalt, Claws, and Storm sleeping peacefully on his bed. He chuckled and pushed Storm up slightly, and lay down, staring at the ceiling. He lay there for several minutes, before feeling Cobalt cuddle into his side, Claws climb on top of his chest, and Storm skitter onto his face, covering his eyes. He chuckled lightly, feeling sleep creep into the corners of his brain. "Night guys…"

* * *

 **And the end of chapter four. A bit of backstory for Sapphire, and a goal to work towards on his journey, besides completing the island challenge. Tell me what you think, and I'll have the next chapter up on August 11th. I want a good few weeks in between, so I can have a minimum of five thousand words a chapter, without rushing. Pretty easy now during summer, but when school starts back up, having a few weeks in between will make it easier.**


	5. Chapter 5: Hau'oli City

**Chapter five has arrived or something. Longest chapter by I think around 200 words, so yeah. Not much else to say, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Hau'oli City

Sapphire finished buckling the gold buckle on his new belt and slipped on his backpack. He flipped down his glasses and grinned as he checked himself out in his mirror. The only things he had actually added to his outfit was his father's black trainers belt letting him put his pokéballs in a easy to reach place, and the Z-power ring. "Looking good Sapph!"

Cobalt rolled his eyes and poked him in the cheek, causing him to laugh. "Rio."

"You have no taste, I look fabulous."

"Olu ri o."

"You're one to talk! Your color scheme is also blue and black!"

"Riolu!"

"Oh you- GET OVER HERE!"

Claws and Meowth looked at each other, exasperated, as Sapphire and Cobalt rolled around on the floor, while Storm slept peacefully. "Litten, Lit."

"Owth."

"Sapphire?" Sapphire's mother entered his bedroom, and sighed at the sight of her son and his partner on the ground.

"Uh, hey, mom. I was just getting ready." Sapphire stood up, and brushed off his clothes, while Cobalt picked up and placed his glasses back on his head.

"Yes I can see that." She shook her head, and smiled ruffling his hair. "Come on, have you gotten your bag ready?"

"Yep, got my journal and tourbook, along with a map, some supplies and the extra money you've given me. Oh, and some extra clothes."

"And by extra clothes, you mean extras of the same clothes?"

Sapphire just grinned and shrugged, Clipping his three full pokéballs to his belt.

She smiled and brushed some of his hair back behind his ear. "...You look a lot like your father. When he went out on his first journey."

Sapphire stilled, and smiled. "Really?"

Her eyes became unfocused, and her look became more melancholy. "Yes. Of course, he prefered more black and gold, rather than blue. But other than that… You have his blue eyes and his build as well. you have his personality, always confident and excited, yet calm and serious when the situation called for it. ready for the next big adventure. And just like him, your eyes are filled with hope, alway sparkling, always excited for the next day."

"...You've never talked about him so much."

She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the doorbell rang. "I suppose it was almost time for you to go. If it's the professor, and you decide to leave right after meeting him… I'm proud of you. And i'm sure you'll do amazing."

"...Thanks mom." He hugged her, before turning and returning Claws and Storm. "Love you." he walked to the door, and waved, before exiting.

As he walked down the stairs of his porch, he smiled as he saw Lillie and Willow waiting by the road. "Hey gals! Whats up?"

"Olu!"

Willow turned and smiled, giving a small wave. "Lillie said that the professor asked her to come and get us for something. I think to show us to the Lab."

"Cool, always wanted to see a professor's lab! Let's get going!"

"Right, well follow me then," Lillie replied, motioning with her hand.

As they began walking down the road, Sapphire looked back seeing his mother standing by the door. He smiled sadly and waved, as his mother smiled, waving back.

* * *

Sapphire laughed as he scratched a rockruff, the pokémon he saw in the professor's video call so many months ago, under its chin. "Aw, who's a good girl?! You are!"

Willow laughed as several cutiefly flew around her as Lillie looked on smiling. "Yeah, the professor has a lot of pokémon in his ranch, he says it helps him study pokémon moves when he's surrounded by them."

"There certainly are a lot of different pokémon here," Willow replied, holding out a hand for some of the small bug types to land on.

"Hey, that reminds me," Sapphire spoke, looking up from the small puppy pokémon. "What kind of pokémon are Nebby and Nebbles anyway?"

"Oh… Well, their actual species are called Cosmog." Her bag ruffled at that, and the two pokémon within called out. "They're very rare pokémon, they came from really far away. They seem to have a really strange power, and they've used that power to save me once, when I was in danger."

"Was it similar to what they did on the bridge?"

"Kind of, Willow. But when they saved me, they transported me away from the danger instead of attacking my, uh, attackers."

"So, why were people attacking you anyway?" Sapphire sat back, letting the rockruff lay down on his lap. "I mean, you seem too nice to be attacked by anybody."

Lillie blushed slightly, and shook her head. "Well, cosmogs have strange powers, like I said, and many people want to use that power for their own good. That's why only the professor, the kahuna, and other people I can trust know about them."

"Huh. Well you don't have to worry about us, We won't tell anybody about them! Swear on my sunglasses! But watch out for Cobalt, I don't trust that guy… he's real shady…"

Willow and Lillie laughed, while Cobalt tackled Sapphire, dragging Rockruff into it as well, as they rolled on the floor. Eventually, Sapphire stood up with Cobalt and Rockruff in his arms, and grinned. "Well, we should probably get to the professors then!"

They walked through the fields, until they reached the professors small laboratory, at least, compared to the ranch around the house. It was a small wooden cabin, mostly tan colored, with a darker brown roof and porch. There were several boarded over parts on the house, as if the building was always being damaged, without enough time between to properly fix the holes. It was rather obvious what was always damaging the building, from the sounds inside. "WHOO! GO ROCKRUFF! GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

"Uhhh…" Sapphire's eye twitched at the sounds inside, and he turned to Lillie. "What was…?"

She just sighed, and began walking up the steps. "They're at it again…" She turned and gave the trainers an embarrassed look. "The Pokémon Research Lab certainly has an interesting charm to it, as I think you'd agree."

"It's certainly… unique." Willow gave a uncertain smile.

"I've been… Imposing on the Professor for about three months, I'm not much of an assistant, but it's the least I can do to pay him back for letting me stay. The professor never really stops researching pokémon moves, even when he's… inside the lab."

"So… would that be why there's so much damage to the place?" He placed his hands on one of the planks and gave it a knock, raising an eyebrow as it almost fell off. Cobalt snickered and Rockruff just tilted her head.

"Pretty much. Looks like we'll have to patch the roof up again. And I had just washed his lab coat, it'll be in tatters now. He'll have to buy a new one, I'm horrible at mending clothes…"

"Perhaps we should go inside before there's any more damage." Willow spoke. Lillie nodded, walking over and unlocking the door. The inside of the lab looked much better than the outside at least. A tan floor and walls, with brown outlined windows and supports. To the left was a small living area, with couches and a tv, and further back was a kitchen area. Next to it was a ladder up to a small loft area, and under the loft was a door. On the right of the building was a staircase going down with some bookcases, and towards the back of the room was a large fish tank, with rocks, seaweed, and coral inside, along with some water type pokémon.

Inside, the professor was laughing as a rockruff ran around his feet, barking. He turned when he heard the door open, and waved them over. "Ah, Sapphire, Willow! Thanks for getting 'em for me Lillie!"

"Of course, however I can be of assistance. I am your, well, assistant. Although fixing up the lab so much can get a bit tiring."

The professor laughed at that, a slight embarrassed lilt to it. "Sorry about that! Rockruff's moves were just so stylin', and I was making good progress with my research!"

Sapphire rocked back and forth on his heels, watching as the two rockruff chased each other around the lab. "So, was there a reason you wanted us to come over here?"

"Sorry, sorry! Can I have your pokédex's?" Sapphire shrugged, and handed over his blue pokédex, and Willow handed over her green one. "See, these pokédex's are pretty special! And their final upgrade has finally arrived! You see, there's a pokémon inside your pokédex's, called Rotom!"

"Wait wait wait, there's a pokémon inside those things? First of all, how? The only pokémon I've seen so far that could realistically fit inside would be a cutiefly!"

"I can answer that for you." Lillie closed her eyes and apparently recited information about rotom by memory. "Rotom are peculiar pokémon, as their bodies are made up of a substance similar to electricity, and they can live inside and take control of machines."

"Exactly! And to put that crazy skill to work, We've created the next generation of pokédex's, which are only complete when the rotom enter the body specially developed for it! It's a whole new way for people and pokémon to communicate, whoo! There's only a few beauties out in the world so far, so you two are pretty lucky!"

He pulled some parts out of his lab coat pocket, and began fiddling with the pokédex cases. "And now, when I put in these new parts and power it up…" He turns, and a few sparks flew over his shoulder, before a powering up noise sounded out.

Suddenly, two small, red pokémon appeared over Kukui's shoulder. Sapphire recoiled slightly, and Cobalt fell off his shoulder in shock. Willow also stepped back, slight shock showing on her face. The small pokémon looked like a red top with blue eyes, with a outline of lightish-blue energy. On either side, the energy lengthened out into two arms that resembled lightning bolts, with the lightish-blue as an outline, with a brighter white on the inside. "Whoa there!"

"Hey, sorry guys! Guess I surprised you, huh? Here you go, powered up your dex's! Now you can give Sapphire and Willow here some helping hand's!"

With an electrical surge, the two pokémon surged into the pokédex's, powering them up. The pokédex's had physically changed, growing a small spike on top, and arms on either side, while the nubs on the bottom expanded slightly, looking more like round feet. The small ovals on the screen became eyes and the screens glowed white, with light blue half circles on the top halves of the screens, a small darker blue line becoming mouths.

The rotom in the blue pokédex flew over to him and circled his head. "Uhh, h-hey there, pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Rotom. You sound a bit nervous there."

"Hey, I'm not nervouzz! It's j-just the speakerzz on this thing!"

Sapphire just chuckled in response, rubbing the back of his head. "Alright, I believe you." Rotom buzzed in response, before flying around his body, and diving into his backpack.

"So, now that your Rotom's can talk directly to you, they'll be able to help you both out around the islands! They'll take a little bit to get used to their new jobs, but I think they've already taken a liking to you both!"

"Heh, thanks Professor, I'm sure they'll be a great help on our journeys."

"No thanks needed cous! Although until they get used to them, you mind helping Sapphire and Willow find their way for a bit longer, Lillie?"

"Of course, Professor." She smiled at Sapphire, who grinned back.

"Sounds good to me. Let's get going then!" He turned on his heel and led the way out, before pausing as the professor called after him.

"One sec there! There's only one more thing I need to tell you all about!" Sapphire comically spun around on the same heel and tilted his head. "Trainers traditionally carry six pokémon with them at all times, so whenever you catch a pokémon when you have more than six pokémon on you, they'll get automatically sent here, to the lab!"

"Oh, will that be a problem Professor?"

"Not at all Willow! In fact, the more pokémon the merrier, as I'll be able to study a much more diverse movepool! While they most definitely won't be able to all fit inside the lab, that's why we have a larger ranch outside! Don't worry about a thing!"

As they began exiting the lab Sapphire kept talking with Kukui. "So why traditionally six pokémon?"

"Well, it's mostly to do with the fact that most pokémon battles involve, at most, six pokémon. I don't think there's actually a rule against having more than six pokémon, but the transponders in pokéballs and your pokédex's are set to transport when they sense you have more than six pokémon at once."

"Huh. Well that's pretty neat. So wh-" Sapphire cut himself off, when their surroundings were dropped into darkness. "Hey, who turned out the lights?"

Almost immediately afterwards, the surroundings lightened, and the darkness retreated. Lillie's bag jostled around, and Lillie had to hold it still. "Don't worry you two, it's alright. I think it was just a quick solar eclipse. You know, when the moon gets between the earth and the sun and blocks it's light for a few seconds, sometimes minutes."

"Was a solar eclipse forecast today?" Kukui stroked his chin and grinned. "Well, it must be some kind of good omen!"

Willow deadpanned, and shook her head. "Never heard of a _good_ omen. You mean blessing?"

Lillie giggled and turned to the professor. "So you think this means something good?"

"Course!" The professor placed a hand on his hips adopted a lecturing tone. "See, a long time ago, Alola was cloaked in darkness, yeah, but the people and pokémon of Alola blasted all of that darkness away with light! They also say that this is when people began gathering Z-crystals, and that custom turned into the island challenge!" He turned to Sapphire and Willow, and threw a fist out. "So! Now that you've both got those Z-Power Ring's, I hope you'll both gather tons of Z-crystals! Woo!"

"Ha! You've got it Professor! You'd better get the ranch ready, because I'm gonna catch tons of pokémon!" Sapphire threw out a thumbs up, and Riolu climbed his clothes to cheer along.

"Sounds good! Good luck cous!" Sapphire gave a two fingered salute, and began running towards the exit of the ranch.

"I suppose I should make sure he doesn't get into trouble…" Willow gave shook her head, not even trying to hide her smile, before jogging after him. Lillie yelped and began running after her. The professor just laughed, and turned back to his lab door.

"Welp, better get the rest of the assistant's ready to take care of the pokémon when I have to leave on business. Come on guys!" He began walking back inside, his brown colored rockruff running up the steps, and not noticing the other, lighter colored rockruff running after the trainers.

* * *

"Hey, Sapphire! Wait up!"

"Come on slowpokes! Who doesn't love a good run!"

"MOOO!"

"Huh?" Sapphire looked forward, and screamed as a large pokémon that looked like a bull scraped the ground with it's hoof in front of him. "BULL!" Cobalt jumped off his shoulder and brought his paws forward, ready for battle.

"Whoa there!" the bull pokémon snorted, as a man ran his hand down his snout, laughing. "Don't worry young Sapphire, he's under control!"

Sapphire breathed out, but twitched and took a cautious step back as the tauros snorted, shooting smoke out of its nostrils. He looked at the man, and only then noticed he was actually kahuna Hala. "Oh, hey. You sure he's under control?"

"Ha, of course!" Sapphire started, and then noticed Hau was also there, petting Tauros' back. "He's a big softie!"

"Uh… huh." He and Cobalt sweatdropped before turning as they heard their friends catch up.

"Don't run so fast next time. I don't think Lillie can run that far again." Willow only looked slightly out of breath, while Lillie was bent over, breathing hard.

"Er, sorry. Guess I was a bit excited"

"Oh, a tauros!" Willow smiled and put her hands on her knees. "Hey there big fella!"

Hala laughed, "Well, sorry for scaring you, friends! But it's about time I take the old boy here back home! Although…" He motioned them forward with a large grin in his face. "Why not give them a quick pat?"

"Sure." Willow walked forward and began stroking tauros' snout, while Sapphire twitched in place.

"You gonna be shown up like that?" Rotom snickered, flying around him.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly going to get up close to a pokémon that could run me through with its horns at any second."

"Don't you have an electric type that can shock you, and a fire type that can burn you?"

"Shocks from Storm hurt me, not cause me to bleed out. And Litten wouldn't burn me on purpose"

"Oh just go pet the bull. But I bet that my chassis is a thousand times smoother."

Sapphire just sighed and edged closer to the tauros. He carefully stroked his mane, causing the bull to toss its head and snort.

"Ha, see! He already loves you!"

Almost immediately after Rotom said that, Taurus stomped on his foot causing him to screech and jump back, falling over and rubbing his foot. "CRAAAAPPP!"

Cobalt sighed and started patting Sapphire's head in sympathy while Hala shook his head and patted tauros' back, and started leading him away. "Let's get going…" Tauros tossed his head smugly, letting himself be led away.

"Wow, Kahuna's sure are something huh?" Hau grinned and placed his hands on his hips while Willow and Lillie watched Sapphire lie on the floor clutching his foot. "Able to calm a raging pokémon without even having to battle it! Anyway, where are you three off to?"

"I was planning to show Sapphire and Willow around Hau'oli city a bit."

Sapphire sat up, still rubbing his foot. "Yep! Gonna be awesome!" Even as he spoke with enthusiasm, tears shone in his eyes.

"Stop being so over the top Sapph."

"Oh I'm sorry Willow, you weren't the one who had their foot stomped on by a two hundred pound pokémon!"

"A average Taurozz actually weighzz 194.9 lbzz. (88.4 kg.)"

"Oh, gooood for you!"

Meanwhile, Hau and Lillie continued their conversation, ignoring the drama happening next to them."Nice idea Lillie! You're always on top of things! Sapphire just got to Alola, so we gotta show him around! Hey, let me tag along, I wanna go get something good to eat!"

"Alright, I suppose we can all go together."

"Then what're we waiting for? This way, come on!" Hau gestured, and began running into the city.

"Ah, Hau! Wait up!" Lillie turned to see Sapphire begin running after him, Cobalt hanging onto his shirt panicking as he was thrown around. "Did you say something about eating?! I totally forgot to eat breakfast!"

'Wasn't he just saying something about his feet hurting?" Willow sighed, and gave a grim smile to Lillie. "Guess we have to hurry and catch up with them before they get into too much trouble." They began walking after the two boys, before excited barking stopped them. They turned to see the small rockruff that Sapphire had been playing with run down the road towards them.

"Oh no, does Professor Kukui know that you ran away from the ranch?" Rockruff barked and circled Lillie's feet, tilting her head and panting.

"Do you know what she wants?" Willow bent down to pet Rockruff, questioning Lillie.

"I'm not sure…" she trailed off as Rockruff perked up, and ran off after seeing Sapphire in the distance. "Oh. I think she may have bonded with Sapphire slightly."

Sapphire laughed as he chased after Hau, running down the ramp on the side of the road onto the beachfront. "Hey, I'm not exactly dressed for the beach Hau!" Cobalt breathed out, letting himself fall to the sand, taking a breather.

"Ah, who cares? Hau'oli city beach is the best! But I guess getting sand in your shoes might be a bit annoying… Alright, let's get a move on! Up ahead is the shopping district!" Cobalt groaned, getting up and following after the two trainers.

"Hey, running on sand is harder with sneakers than flip flops! Wait up!" Sapphire chased him up the ramp further into the beach, before almost falling as something tugged on his pants. "Huh?" He turned to find the small rockruff from the lab sitting at his feet.

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked, pawing at his jeans.

"Well hey there girl, why'd you leave the ranch?" He kneeled, petting her head, and rubbing behind her ears. Rockruff barked in response, nosing at his palm. "Aw, did you want to come with me? Sorry bud, but I'm going to be travelling all over the islands, you've got to go back to the ranch!"

Rockruff frowned, and pawed at his belt, jostling the pokéballs on it.

"You really really want to go huh?" Rockruff barked, licking his hand. "Hey, no slobbering on the hand!" He laughed, pulling an extra pokéball out of his bag. He stopped Rockruff from reaching out, pulling the ball back slightly. "You need to be sure, journeys can be dangerous, and you've lived on that ranch where you don't have to worry about battling. So you have to really think about it, ok?"

Rockruff sat in thought for a minute, before smiling and leaning forward, touching the button on the ball with her nose. She got sucked inside in a whirl of red light, before the ball dinged, signifying capture. "Welp, welcome to the team, bud!" He released Rockruff, who nuzzled into his hands.

"Zzt! Lookzz like you already have four pokémon! You'll have to start rotating your team composition soon!" Sapphire grinned, watching Rotom fly around him.

"Would you stop running ahead of everyone?" Sapphire looked over his shoulder to see Willow and Lillie walking up to them. "Did you see the rockruff from the ranch you were playing with?"

Sapphire picked up Rockruff and held her up, towards the two girls. "Ruff!"

"Got her right here! Looks like she chased me down from the ranch!"

"Yes, we noticed." Lillie shook her head, smiling. "We should probably get her back to the ranch then."

"Well… there's kind of no need." He held up Rockruff's pokéball and returned her, spinning it. "She wanted to come on a journey with me!"

Willow sighed, kneading her forehead. "I need to catch up. I may have won one battle, but you already have twice the pokémon I do."

Lillie smiled, shaking her head. "Speaking of catching up, we should probably catch up with Hau before he gets too far ahead."

"Right." Willow pointed forward, to a part of the city that have more shops. "Up ahead is the shopping district, you can buy stuff there if there's something you still need on your journey."

"Sweet. I think I see Hau up ahead, let's go reconvene!" Sapphire began running ahead causing Willow, Lillie, and Cobalt to sigh.

"Hey, I thought I recognized those feet!" Sapphire snorted as he waved to Hau. "So what do you think? Hau'oli is awesome right?"

"Definitely! Celadon didn't have its own beach, then again I haven't seen an arcade yet."

"We have an arcade deeper in the district!"

"Alright, pretty awesome then."

'Yep! Hey, Sapph, come in here!" He gestured to a building they were standing by. "I heard there was something cool going on in this building if you had a Rotom Dex!"

"I thought Rotom Dex's were pretty new and rare?"

"Hey, don't look at me, I just heard about the thing!" The two boys laughed, and Sapphire started as someone poked his shoulder. He turned to see Willow, Lillie, and Cobalt behind him.

"You need to stop running ahead." Willow crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, you calmer, even if just by a little bit, yesterday. And the day before."

Sapphire blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Heh, sorry. But today was the day we finally leave the town, and head off, to adventure! Can't be more excited than I am now!"

"Understandable I guess." Lillie giggled and shook her head. "What were you two up to anyway?"

"Ah!" Sapphire pointed at Willow who leaned back slightly, pushing his hand aside. "Hau told me there's something going on that involves Rotom Dex's!"

"Rotom Dex's are new and rare aren't they?"

"That's what I said!"

"That's what he said!" Sapphire and Hau looked at each other, before turning back to Willow grinning.

Willow gave an exasperated smile, "Alright, let's go then."

Hau began leading them inside the building, while Lillie paused outside the door. "I'll just wait out here, I don't have a Rotom Dex myself.

"Alright, if you're sure." Sapphire winked at Cobalt. "You mind keeping her company, bud?" Cobalt saluted, and jumped from Willow's shoulder to Lillie's. She giggled and pet him, nodding at Sapphire in thanks.

"Alright, let's go!" Hau opened the doors to the building. The first thing they saw inside was a small counter with some women behind it. Hau walked over to begin talking as Sapphire and Willow followed him. "Miss, is it true that you can get some kinda special gift if you have a Rotom Dex?"

"Well the news certainly travels fast doesn't it?" The woman laughed, and smiled at the trainers. "Hardly anyone has a Rotom Dex, But It is true that we're giving out special items to go with it. Your very own Poké Finder!"

"Awesome! You've got your own Poké Finder! What's a Poké Finder?" Sapphire snickered and Willow smiled at the question.

"The Poké Finder is a tool that adds a photo mode to your pokédex, and a tracking mode! The Rotom Dex is supposed to be an tool that can be used in any situation, and the Poké Finder adds to that!"

"Whoa!" Hau had stars in his eyes, Sapphire was grinning enthusiastically, and Willow looked slightly stoic and slightly interested.

The woman handed over two small USB's, which Sapphire and Willow took, and their respective rotom's flew in front of. Hatches in the backs of the Rotom Dex's opened with USB ports ready. The trainers inserted the USB sticks, and the rotom's downloaded the data, their screens flashing. After they were done they handed back the USB's, as the Dex's continued sorting the information. Willow's Dex returned to her shoulder bag and Sapphire's Flew into one of his bags side pockets.

"Cool, thanks miss!" Sapphire waved to the woman and led the other two trainers out of the building with Hau and Willow also waving. "That Poké Finder thing is gonna be useful to find rare pokémon!"

The pocket of Sapphire's bag lit up from the inside as Rotom spoke up. "Zzt! Poké Finder data sorted and fired up. Got to Love the feeling of new hardware and features!"

"Good to know Rotom, go ahead and test those features out if you want!" Sapphire held the doors of the building open as Rotom beeped in response.

Lillie was waiting outside playing with Cobalt and turned to see them walking out. "So, what was the gift the tourist center was giving out?"

Hau folded his arms behind her head grinning widely. "We got their Dex's upgraded, Now they can take pictures and track down pokémon!"

"Wow, what useful helpers they are!"

"Yeah! Hold on, I think mine said it was done with sorting out the data." Cobalt climbed onto Sapphire's shoulder while Lillie walked over, standing next to Willow, making them all stand in a line. Hau on the far right, Sapphire in the center-right, Willow in the center-left, and Lillie on her left. Rotom suddenly burst out of Sapphire's bag and flew in front of them, flashing as it took a picture of them. Hau and Sapphire reacted in time to grin and smirk respectively, Cobalt gave a peace sign and laughed while Willow gave a small smile and Lillie recoiled, not expecting Rotom to burst out like that.

"Ahahaha! Hey, what was that for, Rotom?"

"Zzt, sorry Hau, but Sapphire did tell me to test out my features!"

"I didn't mean that ya stupid toolbox!" Sapphire laughed and tried to catch Rotom as it flit around him. "Well, at least we got a picture of the four friends on their journeys beginning!" Willow froze for a moment, before a small smile appeared on her face. "Actually Rotom, you mind titling it that? We could have an album for when we all meet up!"

"Actually, could you send that to my rotom when they're done calibrating the download? I'd… like my own photos of my friends."

Sapphire paused, remembering his and Willow's talk about how she didn't usually have many friends, and smiled. "Of course." She smiled back and they kept smiling at each other, until Rotom flew in front of his face buzzing.

"Alright, go and put that little trickster back in your bag and follow me! That's enough feasting the eyes, now for our stomachs!" Hau began to run ahead, and Sapphire laughed following him. Lillie and Willow followed them at a more sedate place.

* * *

"So what's Kalos like?"

"It's rather nice most of the year. I lived in Shalour city, which was usually cool throughout the summer and winter, and no matter what time of year it was, the sunsets were beautiful with the sea bathed in the setting sun's glow."

"That does sounds beautiful!"

"Yeah, it was. Of course, I can have a similar view from my house overlooking Melemele sea, but it's not exactly the same without the Tower of Mastery being highlighted by the sun as well. It truly is a magnificent structure."

"Maybe I should travel there one day."

"Maybe. When we're all done travelling Alola perhaps we could all go together. Oh, I think we've lost them." Lillie looked away from Willow and noticed they had lagged behind, and couldn't see Sapphire or Hau anywhere.

"Oh dear. Where do you think they could be?"

"With what Hau was saying, probably someplace to eat."

"There are lots of places to eat in Hau'oli city. I don't believe we'll find them anytime soon if we try searching every one."

"I guess we could find something to do in the meantime then. I need to buy some extra clothes for the journey, do you know of any clothing shops near here?"

"Uh, yes, this way." Lillie led Willow down the road past several shops until they reached one that sold clothing. "So, do you usually buy clothes on your own or with your parents?"

Willow entered the shop, Lillie following. "I pick them out myself. My parents buy them, but I pick them out of course."

"Of course… Most people do I guess… I… I've always just wear all the clothes my mother wanted me to wear. I don't really know what would suit me."

"I'm sure we can find something for you," Willow spoke, giggling. "Come on, let's look around. What's your favorite color?"

* * *

"There it is! My favorite place to eat in Hau'oli!" Hau placed his hands on his hips and grinned, looking at a small one story building near the ocean, with pictures of the pokémon slurpuff on a large sign above the entrance and some of the windows.

"Well what are we waiting for? After you!" Sapphire laughed and gave a sarcastic bow, gesturing Hau forward. They approached the entrance, before the hairs on the back of Sapphire's neck bristled, and he grabbed Hau by the shoulders, dragging him back as several gusts of sharp wind slammed into the concrete, sending rubble up.

Hau and Sapphire winced back, blocking the rubble from getting in their eyes. Cobalt leapt down from his trainer's shoulder, settling into a fighting stance. "Sapphire, what happened?!"

"Yo yo yo, check it!" Sapphire and Cobalt felt their eyes twitch as two thugs stepped out of a small dark alley between two buildings. They both wore mostly black tank tops, jeans and bandanas over their mouths, with white sneakers and skull bandanas on their heads, and small chains with a stylized 'S' that also looked like a Skull. One also had a small purple bat pokémon fluttering over his head, screeching at them. "Yo, you wanna throw us a bone and hand over those island challenge amulets to us now?"

"What. The hell." Cobalt murmured in agreement at the weirdness of the thugs in front of them.

"Oh, you must be part of that Team Skull right? Isn't that the team that steals people's pokémon, and get in the way of them completing their island challenge?"

"Really? Jeez, that makes Kanto look good. Back home Team Rocket was a bigger threat than that! I mean, the grunts still stole pokémon, but at least they didn't waste everyday trying to stop a bunch of kids on their journey for fun."

"H-hey! We don't spend _all_ day harassing kids o-"

"And then there's the rapping. Just don't. Please."

The thug stomped his foot and growled. "That's it! Nobody insults our awesome raps!" He sent out his own bat pokémon, and both flew down, screeching at them.

"Hey Hau, friendly double battle?" Hau grinned and nodded, sending out Pichu. Cobalt lowered his stance, until Sapphire gestured him back. "Nah, I think we should let Rockruff have some fun, whaddaya think?" Cobalt barked, jumping back. "Cool, alright Rockruff, let's roll!" Rockruff burst out of her pokéball and landed next to Pichu, shaking her fur out. "Think you can do it little buddy?"

"Ruff!"

"Awesome! Rotom, what pokémon are we fighting, and info on Rockruff!" Rotom flew out of his bag, scanning their opponents.

"Zzt! Zubat! Thizz pokémon speciezz is blind, so they use ultrasonic echozz to see! Be careful, this can confuse your pokémon!" It scanned Rockruff next, screen flashing. "Rockruff'zz known movezz and abilitiezz analyzed!" Sapphire looked over Rotom's screen, nodding.

"Thanks Rotom. Ready?"

"You betcha!" Hau laughed, and Pichu and Rockruff gave noises of acknowledgement.

"Zubat, Gust!" Both bat pokémon hissed, and flapped their wings, sending gusts of powerful winds at their opponents, visible as white tinted gales.

Rockruff and Pichu jumped to the side, as the street cracked where they stood. "Rockruff, focus on the Zubat to our right! Hau, you can take the one on the left?"

"You bet I can! Pichu, thunder punch!" PIchu ran forward, leaping through the air, tiny paw crackling with energy… and missed as Zubat fluttered out of the way.

"Zzt, flying typezz are typically more agile than other pokemon, I'd suggest faster attackzz!"

"Right, uh, Rockruff use stealth rock, impede them!" Rockruff barked and slammed her paw down, sending a shockwave along the street, and causing sharp stones to burst out of the concrete, and hang in midair, preventing the zubat from moving as much. With the zubats slowed, Pichu jumped forward again, sending an electrically charged punch directly into the zubat's stomach.

The second zubat hissed, and dove at pichu, opening its mouth, as its fangs glowed a sickly green color. Before it could latch on however, Rockruff tackled it in midair, and bit down on its wing when they landed. Zubat screeched, letting out visible waves of sound, causing Rockruff to let go and whimper, trying to cover her ears.

The zubat continued to screech, until Pichu let out a thundershock, zapping the pokémon midair, and sending it flying back into one of the stealth rocks. Rockruff stood back up and wobbled, slightly confused, and shook her head. The two zubat flit back into the air, and simultaneously started screeching at their opponents, making both Pichu and Rockruff wince.

"Rockruff, use howl! Disorient them!" Rockruff growled at her trainers command, and threw her head back, letting out a loud howl attack that hurt the zubats sensitive hearing organs, and also filled Rockruff with a sense of strength. Now powered up, Rockruff leapt onto one of the stealth rocks, and jumped at her zubat, fangs bared. She crunched down, the zubat crying out, and threw her head around, before tossing the battered pokémon aside. The second bat pokémon tried to flee back to its trainer, but was stopped by Pichu blasting it with another thundershock.

With both pokémon downed, the two Team Skull grunts panicked, recalling them and running, as they yelled over their shoulders, "You're lucky we went easy on you!"

"Yeah, we totally believe you about that!" Sapphire shook his head and looked at Hau. "We make a pretty good team, huh? Well, that and they didn't seem too tough. That battle lasted maybe a full minute!"

"Ha, yeah! They spend most of their time harassing younger trainers on their challenge, because anyone with a bit of skill beats them easily! They're not much of a threat to a skilled or talented trainer!"

"Man they need a hobby. Anyway, what were we doing?"

Hau grinned and led the way into the restaurant, the doors closing just as Willow and Lillie turned the corner.

* * *

"I'm beginning to despise the fact that Sapphire and Hau have met."

Lillie giggled and covered her mouth trying to hide it. "It's not that bad is it? Just because we haven't found them yet doesn't mean we won't find them soon!"

Willow just sighed and smiled. "Well, where haven't we searched yet?"

"I think the marina is close by, we can check there." Lillie led the way down the street towards the harbor, past several shops. "There are a few restaurants on the harborside, we can check a few of those, an- oh!" The two girls jumped to the side as two team skull grunts ran by.

"Twice in a row?! This is crazy!"

"Were those two..?' Willow turned to Lillie who shrugged.

"Hello there! Did those two bother you?" Willow turned to see a teenager who looked to be around eighteen years old and a about as tall as her, a bit under six foot. He wore mostly brown and white colored clothing, and had gray eyes and pink hair, combed to one side of his head.

"No sir, They just ran by us yelling about how they were bested twice in a row. I assume that was you?"

The man laughed, shaking his head. "Technically yes. Although I beat them only once. It would explain why their pokémon were so weakened. It seems they had already battled a couple of trainers on their island challenge and underestimated them."

"Well, I guess we're closing in on Sapphire and Hau," Lillie laughed.

"Hau? So you know the Kahuna's grandson?"

Willow nodded, "Yes, we're travelling with him while we all go on our island challenge."

"I see." The boy rubbed his chin and smiled. "I think I may have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Ilima, the Trial Captain of the Verdant Cave, the normal type trial!"

"The trial captain?" Willow paused before smiling. "That means that you're a pretty skilled trainer, huh?"

He chuckled, nodding. "You could say that."

"Than I challenge you to a battle." She closed her eyes and smiled. "I don't think I'll be able to beat you, but I'd like to measure myself, and see how much I have to grow before I attempt your trial."

"Hmm. Well it's good that you're not as arrogant as other new trial goers." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokéball, enlarging it and tossing it up and down. "All right, I accept your challenge. Smeargle, I request your assistance." The pokéball flashed, releasing a four foot tall pokémon that looked like an upright beagle. It was mostly tan colored, with brown ears, eye outlines, and a paint like substance on its tail.

"Alright, Cream, go!" Cream jumped out of her ball, almost falling over as she landed. "By the way, I'm Willow, this is Lillie. Ready?"

"Of course." Ilima turned to Lillie, "Lillie, if you wouldn't mind refereeing the battle?"

"O-oh, of course. Um, That means I say when to start and when one of your pokémon has fainted?"

"Yes, but I think we'll be able to tell when our pokémon have fainted."

"Oh, right. Um, begin!"

Smeargle immediately brushed his tail through the air, the paint coming off and floating in midair, and changing to a red color. The floating red paint quickly transformed into several fireballs, which tore through the air and barely missed Cream, who had manipulated them psychically to go off course. "Whoa, that doesn't look like a pokémon that should learn a fire type attack…"

"Smeargle is known as the painter pokémon for a reason. It can use its signature move sketch to copy any move by any pokémon! Possibly even a legendary pokémons signature move!"

"Now that's just unfair…" Willow sighed before shaking her head. "Cream light screen and reflect!" Cream concentrated and focused on creating barriers of energy around herself, which manifested in panes of near transparency. "Now, Psychic spheres!" Multiple spheres appeared around her, and shot towards Smeargle, who painted a circle which became a protect barrier.

"Bypass her barriers, Phantom Force." Smeargle painted a circle in the ground around himself, which changed into a sickly dark blue and swallowed him into the ground. Cream panicked looking around for Smeargle, until another dark circle appeared underneath her.

"Cream, move!" Cream looked down and began to move away, but wasn't fast enough. Smeargle burst out of the ground covered in the dark blue aura, smashing head first into Cream. Cream cried out and was blasted away, crying out.

"Cream, quick! Use assist!" Cream focused, and called upon her allies moves. Her eyes opened and flashed sending pulses out, which made Smeargle stagger back. "Nice, confuse ray."

Smeargle shook his head refocusing. "Smeargle has the ability Own Tempo, He can't get confused." Willow sighed and shook her head.

"Great. There goes that strategy."

"Smeargle, finish it. Trick or treat into night slash." Smeargle motioned, creating the symbol of the ghost type which slammed into Cream. Cream wasn't harmed, and looked confused, until she realized she now had the ghost type along with the psychic type. Before she could do anything, Smeargle made a swiping motion, and his tail turned from a sickly dark blue to a deep endless black. The swipe transformed into a night slash, and smashed into Cream.

"Cream!" Cream bounced back unconscious, being returned to her pokéball.

"O-oh, uh, Cream is unable to battle."

"Yes, I noticed, Lillie. Well that was certainly over sooner than I expected. I thought that I would be able to at least last a bit longer than that."

"Well as a trial captain I have to have strategies for all pokémon types. Smeargle, return." Smeargle was returned to his pokéball, which Ilima returned to his pocket. "Since your espurr is a psychic type we added the ghost type, so that the dark type move we used would be even more powerful.

"I see I have a ways to go before I'm ready for your trial. I already knew that, but I didn't know just how much training I have to do."

"I would suggest speed training. The attacks that your pokémon did use seemed powerful, and her shields would have stopped a good number of attacks if we hadn't bypassed them, but your espurr could do with being faster. Being able to take hits is great, but sometimes being able to evade is even better."

Willow gave a small smile and nodded. "Of course, thank you for the advice."

"Whoo! That was awesome!" Hau ran up to Ilima out of nowhere, jumping up and down. "The way your pokémon was able to use a bunch of moves by painting was so cool!"

Sapphire walked up from behind them, bunching up a food wrapper and sticking it in his pocket. "It was pretty short, but I guess that's what happens when you fight the Alolan equivalent of a gym leader. Nice to meet you Ilima. I hope your trial is ready for me!"

"Are you saying you'd like to try battling me now?"

"Oh nononono, not yet. I think I'll do some training first." Lillie giggled, Willow smiled and Hau laughed.

"Fair enough!" Ilima shook his head and began walking off laughing. "Go heal up your pokémon, I'm excited to see how much you've grown when you attempt my trial."

Willow nodded and turned to Hau and Sapphire. "So what did you two get up to after you ran off?"

"Oh you know, fought some gang members, got some food, your regular old tuesday afternoon."

"It's not even tuesday."

"Don't ruin my epic moment, you absolute walnut." Willow gained a dumbfounded look on her face, Lillie looked like she was deciding whether to laugh or be very confused, and Hau just laughed. Meanwhile, Sapphire just walked away, head held high.

About a minute later Willow blinked, very confused, and amused. "Did he just call me a walnut as an insult?"

* * *

 **And so the exploration of part of Hau'oli city or something. Also, Sapphire has another pokémon now. He's certainly getting them pretty fast, but definitely not as fast as in the games. In the games you'd have a bit more than a full team by now. Also, you'll probably have noticed that both battles in this chapter were much much shorter and less epic than last chapters, because of 1) The team skull grunts are very easy to beat if you have a modicum of skill, and 2) trying to fight the Alolan equivalent of a gym leader on one of your first days as a trainer is not going to go well. Poor Willow. Anyway, next chapter September 1st, get your butts ready. That came out wrong.**

 **Also, as a side note, I've got an idea for a crossover story, also involving Sapphire and Willow, but also includes Anthony and a fourth mystery trainer. The in-universe time of the prologue will probably occur a year after the ending of when this story would have ended, however in that story, the choices all the trainers make will be very different from how this story will go, so nobody will have to worry about spoilers for this story. So… technically it's a year after this story's ending, but with this story being different? Alright, just think of it like the Multiverse theory or whatever, every choice makes a new universe, and the story I'm thinking up will be slightly connected to this one, in that some of the characters are the same, but with different personalities, pokémon, etc. This is more complicated than it needs to be, just look out for a new story on my profile soon.**


	6. Chapter 6: Ghosts of the Past

**Apologies for being a day late, internet troubles prevented me from posting this yesterday.**

 **Now normally the longer author note is at the bottom because I like to let you all get right to the chapter, but since I don't want to ruin the… emotion… that I hope you'll all feel when you read it, I'll put it here. Um. Yeah, I don't even put stuff in Author Notes usually anyway? Seriously though, since there are more and more pokémon appearing, might as well have some rosters. The first team roster will appear in this chapter, and all subsequent chapters. And don't worry, I always make sure Chapters are a minimum of 5,000 words before I ever add Author Notes anyway.**

* * *

Sapphire was incredibly excited to finally set out. He'd woken up early, gotten dressed, grabbed his pokéballs, and ran out of the pokémon center to the exit of the city! Of course, in his haste, he'd forgotten breakfast, which is why he was now back inside the pokémon center trying to eat as quickly as possible.

"Hey, morning Sapph!" Sapphire quickly choked on his cereal as Hau popped up from behind him, and had to have Cobalt slap him on the back several times. He coughed several times, before waving.

"Hey, morning to you too…"

"I didn't know you'd woken up so early! Trying to get a headstart on the competition eh?"

"Yep. I guess it also helps that I'm a morning person, I've always woken up early, so it was pretty easy."

"Rio, io riolu."

"All right, I woke up late that day because we stayed up all night talking with Storm and introducing him to the team. Stop sassing me you overgrown blue chihuahua!" Cobalt rolled his eyes and Hau laughed, setting his food down.

"Well, I think I'll spend a little more time in the city before I set out for the first trial! Willow will probably leave soon too though, whenever she wakes up that is."

"What, Willow isn't up yet? It's already…"

"Zzt! Eight-thirty-nine, and thirty-six seconds!"

"Thanks, Rotom."

"Nah, Guess she's not much of a morning person. I think Lillie was waking up to by the time I left the room though."

"Huh. With how calm and sophisticated she talks I guess I thought she'd also be really strict with when she wakes up. Can't judge a book by its cover though, I should know that best! With how handsome I am, you'd think I'd be an ass to everyone who isn't me!"

"Hmm, I don't know, you're pretty ugly looking to me."

"Hey! Take that back!" The two trainers laughed at the friendly banter, continuing the argument with Sapphire making fake gasps and holding the back of his hand to his forehead whenever he was affronted by Hau until Cobalt had finished his meal. "All right, I'd better get going then. I want to get in a bunch of training before I even attempt the first trial! I'll probably catch some pokémon for it too…"

"Oh, before you go, Willow wanted me to give you something if she hadn't woken up by the time you left." He reached into his bag, pulling out several small packages and handing them to Sapphire. "I think she said they were from some place called the Tower of Mastery or something. Sounds pretty cool to me!"

"Wow, she must have messaged that Korrina person the same day she told me about her for her to send these so soon!" He opened his bag and stuffed the packages in, fitting them between his clothes, food cans, and a collapsible tent. "Anyway, guess I 'll get going now, see ya, Hau!" He fist-bumped Hau, Slipping his bag onto his shoulders.

"All right, hopefully, I'll catch up when you've reached the trial, but if you do finish it by then give me some hints!"

Sapphire laughed, letting Riolu clamber up him. "All right, sounds fair. You'll need some assistance to keep up with me anyway!" He waved, walking to the doors of the pokémon center. "Oh, and tell Willow and Lillie that I said hi, and they should have woken up earlier if they wanted me to bless their day with my GLORIOUSNESS before I left!"

"I'll be sure to leave parts of that out!" Sapphire stuck his tongue out and exited the center, walking down the sidewalk to Route two. "Nothing like some friendly banter to start off your day!"

"Olu."

"Nah, you're just annoying."

"Ri."

"Don't give me that tone young man!" They continued this back-and-forth until they neared the exit of the city, where loud mooing made Sapphire freeze in place, a stony look appearing on his face while Riolu just facepalmed. In front of the exit Hala was petting Tauros, who was leaning into his hand, yet at the exact same time giving Sapphire a death glare. "We meet again, demon…"

"RI RIOLU!"

"HE'S THE DEVIL I SAY!"

"Ah, young Sapphire!" Sapphire turned to Hala who had looked away from Tauros, waving to him. "Tauros here was causing a ruckus again, so I came to calm him down! Want to try giving him a pat again? It's the only way you'll get used to him!"

"Well, I think I'm alr-Riolu, stop, no!" Riolu had rolled his eyes and jumped down, grabbing his pant leg and dragging him over to the bull pokémon. He stopped a foot from the bull, who just stared at him, huffing a bit. Sapphire narrowed his eyes, and reached out, giving him a single pat on the head. The boy and the pokémon stared at each other, complete silence surrounding them.

"...Well, I guess you're getting along better now! He hasn't even thought of stomping on your foot, haha!" Sapphire only nodded, still staring at Tauros, who stared back. Moments later, Tauros spun on the spot, dashing off into Route two. "Ah, now you want to play tag Tauros? The Melemele Kahuna never loses at tag I'm afraid!"

As the Kahuna chased Tauros, didn't notice Sapphire, who stood stock still, his eye twitching as his foot throbbed. Tauros had, of course, stomped on it as he ran away. Tauros looked back, an evil smirk and twinkle in his eyes. "the devil is among us…"

Riolu just sighed, hiding his face in his paws. "Riolu Ri."

* * *

Sapphire spread his arms, grinning at the feeling of the sun on him as he walked. "So, what pokémon should we try and get next? You're a fighting type, Claws is a fire type, and Storm and Rockruff are bug and rock types. And Storm will be an electric type when he evolves, so there's that."

"Riolu olu."

"Being able to understand you through experience and friendship has its limits, bud. You need to pantomime it a bit."

Cobalt rolled his eyes, then pointed to his canines. "Fangs… Poison type?"

Cobalt nodded. "Olu."

"Sounds good to me. Variety is the spice of life, and various typings will definitely help in battles." Sapphire knelt, bringing his bag around. He dug through it until he got out the Alolan tour guide, standing back up an slipping his bag on. He started flipping through it as he walked, with Cobalt pulling on his hair to indicate when to turn so he wouldn't trip over mounds in the dirt trail.

"Okay, there are a bunch of poison types in Alola, and a couple here on MeleMele. Hey look, an Ekans!" Riolu looked at the page Sapphire was pointing at, an illustration of the Snake Pokémon, "Remember them from Kanto?"

Cobalt gave him a deadpan look. "Riolu."

"Okay, that was not my fault. That was all you and Bolt, me and Ant had to totally save your butts!"

"Olu Riolu!"

"Why would I purposely antagonize poisonous snakes?!"

Hissing noises interrupted them, and they looked around to see that they'd wandered into the tall grass, where a rather large group of Ekans, maybe about a dozen and a half, with the largest being a bit longer than six feet long, slithering towards them.

"I completely and utterly blame you for this."

"Olu."

"Shut it." Sapphire then spun, spinning away while pointedly not screaming like a girl, with the horde of snakes following him. This continued until sundown. With Cobalt most certainly not sassing him about paying attention to his surroundings.

* * *

Sapphire stretched his arms above his head, groaning as he stretched his sore muscles. He fell backward, thumping against the dirt, and coughing as Rockruff jumped onto his stomach. "Watch it, girl, we just ate!" He chuckled as she just yipped lightly, yawning. "Maybe we should give you a nickname soon. Cobalt, what do you think?"

Cobalt shrugged from where he lay against Claws form, both of them stuffed from the dinner he made, with Storm slumbering next to them. Anthony may have been a better cook than him, but he wouldn't slack for his pokémon! Cobalt rubbed his paw against his fur, specifically the cobalt fur. "I should name her something to do with her fur color?" Cobalt nodded.

Sapphire looked down, idly rubbing Rockruff's back, thinking. "All right, so, tan fur, and a rock type. Whats a tan or brown stone? Topaz? Wait, I think that's more yellow… Hey Rotom, are there any gemstones that look like Rockruff?"

Rotom buzzed, floating out of his bag and orbiting Sapphire's head. "There are many gemstonezz with a tan-like color, including Feldspar, Agate, Jasper, Chrysanthemum,"

Rotom would have continued, until Sapphire shook his hands, motioning the ghost pokémon to slow down. "Wait, wait, wait, way to fast. I don't want every single brown colored stone ever, just ones similar to Rockruff, and can be shortened to an easy nickname. Uh, what about the last one?"

Rotom's screen showed a picture of Chrysanthemum, which had a brown and tan color, with golden and light brown patterns. "Sure, let's go with that one. I'm not looking through dozens of pictures of rocks. Any ideas on how to shorten the name?"

"I have calculated several wayzz to shorten it, but the most name-like shortening seems to be Chrysant. Zzt."

"Sounds good to me. But what about you Rockruff, Chrysant sound good?" Rockruff tilted her head and barked, nodding. "Cool, now how about we get to the tent so we're not sleeping directly on the hard ground. The newly named Chrysant gave a small burp, before barking and jumping off his stomach to pad over to the tent. Sapphire got up and picked his other three pokémon up, kicking some dirt onto the fire they'd made, and crawling into their tent.

* * *

Sapphire flipped through the travel book he had taken from home, looking at all the pokémon in the region. "Check this out, it's a turtle pokémon that's a fire dragon type! And it explodes!"

"Olu." Sapphire and Riou were walking along Route two, having to retrace their steps after being chased for an entire day by the horde of poison snakes. Which they had an extensive back and forth about at breakfast, about who was to blame as the other three pokémon watched on, amused. Of course, the argument didn't last long as they laughed about the encounter, and began walking back towards Ilima's trial.

"Yeah, 'it lives on volcanoes, feeding on sulfur and other materials found near volcanic craters. Its shell has a layer of explosive material but is mostly sulfur.' Neat, huh?"

"Ri."

"You aren't a steel type yet, don't worry about it."

"Hello there!" Sapphire paused, looking up from his book and behind him to see an old man walking up the path, a walking stick in his hand. "Fine day for a hike isn't it?"

Sapphire fumbled with his book, putting it back in his bag, and putting his hand out. "Uh, yeah. I mean, I guess I'm hiking, but I'm on my way to a trial right now. I'm a trainer."

The old man laughed. "Ah, a trainer! Good on you! You know I used to be a trainer?" Sapphire and Cobalt looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes, sweatdropping. How would they know that? They literally just met the guy.

Not wanting to be rude, Sapphire just rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I mean, I couldn't really tell…"

"Oh? Are you not from MeleMele then? Most people know that there's a cemetery nearby, has both people and pokémon in it, most people that visit it and have pokémon resting peacefully there are former trainers."

"Ah, yeah, I'm from Kanto. That's kind of sad to think about though, I mean, that one day either Cobalt or myself will still be alive, while the other one of us…"

"Olu…"

Sapphire's eyes looked up suddenly, and he struggled to express his thoughts for a moment. "Uh, so if this cemetery has humans and pokémon… did you ever see a grave there with the name Flare Chaser?"

The old man hummed, seeing the look in the young boy's eyes. "I don't believe so. A person close to you I assume?"

Sapphire grinned sadly. "My pops, red hair and blue eyes, trained fire types unironically. Guess that gave me my love for them now that I think about it. I'm Sapphire Chaser, He was named for his fiery eyes and hair, me for just my bright eyes. A-anyway, part of the reason I'm journeying through Alola right now is to find him… and… I don't want to think about it, but if there's a chance his… his grave…"

The old man smiled sadly for a moment, placing a hand on the shoulder Cobalt wasn't sitting on. "I've got an idea, how about you come along with me? You can protect me from any pokémon on the way that might attack me, and you can… have a look around."

Sapphire nodded, chuckling as Cobalt let off a small 'Olu,' Patting at his cheek. "Yeah, all right. Lead the way then, Sir."

The Old Man laughed, trying to rid the conversation of the sad undertones it just held. "Sir? I may be your senior, but I'm not that old, I'm only fifty-three!"

"Hey, I've been mentally referring to you as the Old Man this whole time, You aren't convincing me of that anytime soon!" They shared a laugh, the Old Man walking ahead down the path.

"Listen, just call me Jack, it's my name after all!"

"You got it, Sir." They continued to share laughs all the way down the path, the depressing conversation already being forgotten by the two new friends.

* * *

Sapphire grimaced at the sight of the entrance to the cemetery either his dad would be here, or…

"Lighten up Sapphire." Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. "If you do find his grave, you may find closure. If you don't, there's hope he may still be alive, right?"

"Maybe." Sapphire's grimace turned to a slight grin, as he nodded. "Lead the way old timer." Jack grinned, walking into the graveyard. Sapphire looked around as he followed, observing several of the people in front of graves. Some were crying silently. Some were smiling sadly. Everyone had different reactions to death.

Sapphire paused, almost bumping into Jack, who had stopped in front of a small simple grave. Jack was smiling, a hand on the front of the grave, under the picture of a dog pokémon. "He was my partner, a lillipup, he evolved a little of the way through our island challenge into a herdier, and didn't evolve again. He preferred being a herdier, thought that being a Stoutland would be too bothersome." He chuckled, letting his hand fall to his side. "Why don't you take a look around for a bit? I'd… I'd like some time alone."

"Yeah, all right." Sapphire turned away, walking a bit deeper into the graveyard. Riolu stayed on his shoulder silently, observing Jack. He clutched Sapphire's hair, shaking his head. He didn't want to think about what would happen when… "Hey, Cobalt." Cobalt looked up to see Sapphire smiling. "Don't worry about that right now. The only thing we have to worry about in the future is completing the island challenge!"

"Rio… Riolu!" Cobalt smiled and nodded calming down. Sapphire looked ahead again, walking down the rows of graves. He didn't see any that resembled his father's name, and he couldn't decide whether that was good or bad. He was so distracted, that he didn't notice the slight shimmers on the edges of his vision as he neared the edge of the graveyard. He also didn't notice the tree line seemingly open up to a new pathway, he only thought that was always there.

He walked down the path, the sounds of the people behind him being drowned out by the silence of the forest. The sun shone down through the canopy, illuminating the path he walked. As he looked around, neither him nor Cobalt noticed the shimmers that would disappear when they looked near them. Suddenly, they exited the trees, and in front of them was a singular grave, with rays of light illuminating it. The only things on the otherwise completely flat stone were two words. "Flare Chaser," Sapphire murmured, walking forward slowly.

Sapphire collapsed to his knees, letting his hand rest on the 'A' in Chaser, Eyes widening. "What… Just… What? His grave is… Why is…" Sapphire continued murmuring, unable to think straight as he looked at the grave, Cobalt watched a degree of skepticism in his thoughts. So soon into their journey? That seemed too easy, sure they'd hoped they'd find Sapphire's father soon, but…

A smile. Words of encouragement. Bright red hair and brighter blue eyes. Several pokémon, all of them with their own warmth, in different ways. All of them affectionate to him, and loyal to his father. He remembered battles on a tv, cheering on his father. A final hug as he left, telling him to cheer him on in the next region, waving as he exited, not to be seen over the next eleven years.

Cobalt slid down Sapphire's back, landing with a huff, and looking around the calm glade. Something wasn't right here, and with Sapphire so upset by the sight of the grave, he wouldn't be thinking about how suspicious this whole thing was. As he looked around, he finally noticed one of the shimmers on the edges of his vision. He turned towards it lightning fast, paws in a ready position. He continued to observe, looking for any of the shimmers.

He turned as he saw another shimmer, sprinting forward and thrust his paw out, and blinking as he flew straight through the shimmer. He landed on one paw, flipping around in a front flip and sliding to a stop. In front of him, the shimmer slowly revealed itself to be a small black ball with large eyes and small fangs, surrounded by purple smoke. Cobalt narrowed his eyes as the pokémon laughed, several other of the same pokémon appearing out of midair.

In all, there were about seven, until an eighth shimmer appeared. This pokémon was a purple colored face with two disembodied hands on either side. The glade around them began disappearing into a dark cold forest, with the grave Sapphire kneeled in front of being revealed to be just a regular mossy rock. Sapphire, having sat in front of the rock the whole time not realizing what was happening behind him, Sapphire slowly shook his head, his hands beginning to tremble. "I… what…"

"Rio _phire!"_ Sapphire turned slowly, seeing Cobalt grab his sleeve. "Focus, I need the others!" He nodded slowly, hands fumbling with his belt until the three full balls on his belt fell to the ground. Cobalt slammed his hands onto the buttons, releasing the pokémon inside. " _Surround Sapphire, protect him!"_

The Storm, Claws, and Chrysant saw Sapphire blankly stared forward and then saw the eight cackling ghost pokémon surrounding them. Riolu reached into Sapphire's bag, grabbing Rotoms pokédex. " _Rotom wake up!"_

"Zzt?" Rotom flew up, saw the several ghost pokémon, and dove back into his private pocket. "Why are we surrounded by ghostzz?!"

" _You're a ghost yourself, stop being scared!"_ The first ball pokémon dove in cackling and Storm shot out electrified webs at the pokémon, which simply phased through it. Claws responded next, jumping up and biting, the dark type attack hurting the pokémon and causing it to back off. " _What pokémon are they, what are their weaknesses?"_

"Gastly and the one face pokémon is a Haunter! Ghost poison typezz, dark type attackzz are most effective, and your normal and fighting type moves will have no effectzz!" Cobalt scowled, setting his stance.

" _I'll just use other types then!"_ He jumped forward, bringing his leg forward to smash a Gastly aside, and then setting that same leg aflame to kick another gastly aside. He landed hard, backflipping away from a cloud of poisonous gases that a Gastly let out at him. Chrysant ran past him, sending several Stone Edge attacks upwards, tossing the Gastly backward.

Storm clicked his mandibles together fast enough to create a physical damaging wave of sound, the Bug Buzz sounding out and tossing several Gastly away. Claws jumped onto him, then leaped off, letting out several Ember attacks, the flames scaring the pokémon away. With no Gastly left, Claws smirked licking his paw, before screeching in panic as the Haunter burst through the floor, grabbing him in his hand, and tossing the cat into the forest.

" _I know that you ghost pokémon are all about causing mischief, but isn't making the illusion of a fake grave just a bit too cruel?!"_ Cobalt jumped forward, kicking out. Haunter grabbed his leg and cackled, not caring for the flames on Cobalts leg. He lifted him up, before smashing him into the ground, causing him to bounce away. Chsyant growled, using Howl to strengthen herself, before leaping forwards, several Stone Edge rocks flying alongside her.

Haunter just went intangible, letting the rocks fly through him, before letting his tongue loll out, Licking the panicking puppy. Chrysant slowly went stock still, Haunter's paralyzing tongue causing her to fall to the forest floor, yellow sparks trailing across her form. Storm looked nervously at his paralyzed teammate, and cobalt struggling to get up, before resolving himself and snapping his mandibles together. "Grub grub!" He launched forward, ready for Haunter to try and paralyze him with his tongue, using Bug Bite to grab Haunter's tongue.

Haunter hung in the air for a second, before grabbing Storm and trying to tear him off his tongue. Cobalt took advantage of this, as he had recovered by this point in the fight, and used Crunch, biting down hard on Haunters hand. Haunter, subsequently, stopped trying to tear off Storm and tried to tear off Cobalt. He eventually worked him free, but Cobalt responded by punching Haunter in the eye. Haunter cried out, holding his hand to his eye, biting down, but missing Storm's body as Cobalt grabbed him and jumped away.

Cobalt set him down, before crying out as a Dark Pulse attack slammed into him, throwing him across the glade as he tumbled end over end. His cries drew Sapphire's attention, and he shook his head, looking around and gasping at the sight of Chrysant paralyzed on the ground, Cobalt struggling to get up, Storm standing in front of him valiantly, and Claws slowly cutting his way out of the treeline. "What happened?!"

" _A tough battle."_ Cobalt gave a grim smile, holding one of his arms. " _This Haunter is a bit more experienced than us I'd say."_ The Haunter cackled, dark energy swirling around his hands.

"I'm sorry I was out of it, I-"

" _Don't worry about it, we understand. Just get to thinking up some strategies, we could use our trainers help."_ Sapphire smiled, before refocusing on the ghost pokémon.

"All right, he may be tougher than all of you, but I'll bet he's not tougher than all of you together!" He stood up, grabbing Chrysant's pokéball, returning her. "Being paralyzed she won't be able to help, but the rest of you, line up!" Cobalt helped Claws forward, and Storm chittered, sparks flying from his mandibles.

Haunter laughed, firing several Shadow Balls at them. "Storm, Claws, behind Cobalt!" The two pokémon obeyed, with Cobalt standing strong. The ghost type attacks slammed into him and didn't affect him at all, thanks to his typing. Haunter wasn't aware of this, however, and was thus surprised when Cobalt leaped out of the smoke that had appeared from the impact and slammed a flaming foot into his cheek. Haunter recoiled, allowing Cobalt to get another hit in, slamming his other foot into Haunter's non-existent nose, and leaping away.

Haunter shook himself, holding one of his hands over where his nose would be and then panicked as Claws jumped up, clawing at his eyes. He grabbed him and threw him upwards, preparing to catch him on his tongue, but was unprepared for Storm zapping him with a low powered bolt of electricity. It didn't even hurt, only annoy him, so he prepared a shadow ball, forgetting about the cool-headed cat above him.

"Now, Claws! Distraction, Storm web him!" Litten landed, sinking flaming fangs into his head, causing him to back up mid-air, reaching up to tear the cat off. Storm took this time to fire a high powered Electro Web, tangling the ghost in the sparkling webs. Claws jumped off quick enough to not get caught, and the pain of the electricity prevented Haunter from focusing enough to phase through.

"All right, Cobalt, finish him off! Bullet Punch!" Cobalt dashed in, paw shining grey as it turned to steel, and punched Haunter where his stomach would be, sending him flying back into a tree, smashing the bark, before he slid to the ground. Haunter tried to rise again, even with the electricity coursing through him, before a red and white pokéball bounced off his immobile form, sucking him inside.

The ball wobbled, which became more violent, before subsiding, and then grew again. Storm walked up to it, before anticlimactically shooting several webs over it, until the ball had grown several sizes in pure webbing. The ball subsequently stopped wobbling, a muffled ding coming from the inside. "All right, that is totally cheating." Storm gave him a look and poked his own ball, being returned inside.

" _Why are you catching him? He tried tricking you into seeing your Dad's grave!"_ Cobalt didn't really sound angry, just curious.

"For one, he obviously wasn't beaten, he could keep going and you're all pretty injured yourselves, so catching him would end the fight earlier. For another, he was pretty powerful, and who doesn't want a powerful pokémon on their team?" Sapphire tried to give a confident grin, but there was something in his eyes that gave away just how shaken he still was by the illusion.

Cobalt just rolled his eyes accepting the points. " _All right, sure, whatever. Come on then, let's get out of here. I could use a rest, let me sleep in your bag."_ Sapphire gave a small laugh, trying to ignore how forced it felt, and returned Claws, picking up his and Storm's pokéballs and clipping them to his belt, before grabbing Cobalt's. " _No, don't return me, let me rest in your bag. I'm not letting you be alone right now."_ Sapphire smiled, taking his bag off and letting Cobalt climb in, before standing back up.

He walked over to the webbed over pokéball that held his newest pokémon, picking it up and grimacing at the sticky webbing covering it. He tried wiping it off, but there was too much so he just tossed it into a side pocket of his bag, zipping it up. "So, did Rotom at least help you all a little bit?"

"Zzt, Of course, I did! I told them the typingzz and namezz of the pokémon they faced!"

"So you didn't even battle?"

"My chasizz could have been damaged!"

Sapphire just snorted and shook his head. "So, looks like you've got that Aura talking thing working, eh Cobalt?"

" _Huh? Oh wow, I didn't even notice! I mu_ lu ri r _b_ c _oncious_ i! Riolu!" Upon realizing he had lost it, Riolu slumped over, despondent.

Sapphire just shook his head, pushing aside some branches. "Well, you lost it as soon as you focused on it, but don't worry, I'm sure we'll get it working soon." Sapphire exited the forest and reentered the graveyard, looking around. Some people had left, some had not, but none had heard the battle. They had probably been led too deep for anyone to hear it.

Sapphire walked back to Jack, who was still sitting in front of his Herdier's grave. "Sapphire. You were gone for a while, did you…?"

"No, no. just… got sidetracked, I guess."

"Ah. Well… I'm not sure what quite to say. I'd say I'm happy that you didn't find your father's grave, but then again, now you have to keep looking, not knowing his fate."

"Believe me, I'm just as conflicted." Sapphire smiled sadly, offering Jack a handshake. "Either way, I'd better get going. Don't want to lose any more daylight, and I'd like to get a bit closer to the Trial location than yesterday. It was nice to meet you, Jack."

"You as well, Sapphire. When you complete the Island Challenge, come to visit me in Hau'oli why don't you? You can tell me about all your adventures!"

"I'll make sure to do that. See ya, old timer." Sapphire waved, as did Cobalt, albeit a bit more tiredly. Jack waved back until they'd exited the graveyard, and turned the bend. They walked in silence for a bit, Cobalt enjoying the peace as he rested, and Sapphire just walking, trying to keep his thoughts off the feelings that had welled up before and during the battle.

About an hour later, Cobalt looked up at the sun, which was about in the middle of the sky. "Olu?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, guess it's almost time for lunch. Thanks, bud." Sapphire set his bag down and stood for a moment not focusing on anything, his thoughts swirling.

"Olu…" Cobalt exited the bag and tugged on Sapphire's pant leg. Sapphire didn't respond, until he fell back onto his backside with a thump, staring ahead. "Ri!"

"Don't worry bud… It's… It's just…" He was cut off as Cobalt jumped on him, wrapping his arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Thanks, bud… For being there for me…"

" _Idiot. You know I'll always be there for you."_

"Yeah. Course you will. What am I thinking?" He chuckled, a few tears escaping his closed eyes. "He's gone, and, and I know this, I knew this for so long, so why, why, WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH?!"

Cobalt said nothing as his trainer's shoulders shook, held in emotions threatening to overwhelm him. "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up! I knew it, I knew it couldn't be that easy, but I let those damn ghosts get to me, and now, now…" He grew silent, the tears beginning to overwhelm him. "Damn, why am I crying? There's no reason to be…"

Riolu held him tighter. " _It's all right. Cry as much as you want. These emotions will only hurt you more if you hold them in."_ Sapphire nodded, holding the small pokémon against him, tears streaking down his face as he let them run freely.

"Thanks, Cobalt… I love you bud."

" _Hey, I'm interested in female pokémon, sorry."_ Cobalt smiled as some of the heaves of Sapphire's shoulders became heaves of laughs, not crying.

"Of course you've got to ruin the moment. I've taught you too well."

" _Hey, I'm your partner, I learned from the best. If you won't ruin the moment with jokes, who will?"_ Cobalt smiled, feeling his best friends aura lighten, still with terrible sadness in it, but with a touch of happiness now, as well. " _Love you too, Sapph…"_

And so, the trainer held his pokémon, and wept, as he remembered his father, and thanked whatever gods there were for his pokémon, his friends, and his mother. For they were his family.

* * *

 **...Next chapter on September 22nd.**

 **Pokémon team**

 **Sapphire Chaser**

 **Riolu - Cobalt**

 **Litten - Claws**

 **Grubbin - Storm**

 **Rockruff - Chrysant**

 **Haunter**


	7. Chapter 7: Skulls and Training Montages

**Chapter seven! Enjoy everyone!**

 **Chapter 7: Skulls and Training Montages**

* * *

" _I'm always with you… in here."_

" _You never have to be afraid, my little ember. I'm here for you."_

" _Don't worry, I'll come back! I promise…"_

Sapphire's eyes shot open, almost unnoticeable trembling going through his body, as he breathed heavily. He felt a cold sweat on his skin, and he looked around to see he was still in his tent. Cobalt and Claws were asleep on his chest, while Chrysant and Storm were to either side of his head. His backpack was by the tent flaps, with Haunter's pokéball still covered in webs in the side pocket.

Sapphire sighed and closed his eyes, thinking. He hadn't had a nightmare about his father leaving for years, and this one was so much more intense. He could almost see his eyes gazing at him happily, just before he left for the last time…

Sapphire growled and shook his head. Haunter and the Ghastly he had with him really had messed him up with that illusion, but now he was determined, determined to get stronger, determined to protect those he cared about. Sapphire carefully moved aside Claws and Cobalt so they wouldn't wake up, and grabbed his backpack as he exited the tent. He sat down on a log next to the fire he had made and put out earlier and dug through his bag until he found the packages Willow's friend sent him.

He tore one open, to reveal a brown weathered book inside, along with a note. He picked the note up, flipping it around to read it. "Dear Sapphire, I heard from Willow that you have a Riolu, and are interested in Aura. As these were just laying around without anyone using them, I was able to sneak them out! No need to thank me, a friend of Willows is a friend of mine! Signed, Korrina." Sapphire smiled, putting the card aside. "I'll definitely have to thank her then."

With the card out of the way, Sapphire opened the book, a fair bit of dust flying out. "Chapter one, What is Aura? Aura exists within all living things, but few can master its usage…" And so he continued reading, well past when the sun came up.

* * *

Cobalt yawned as he woke up, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "Ri?" He looked around, not seeing Sapphire. With how bright out it was, Sapphire should have woken them hours before, for breakfast.

Cobalt walked out of the tent, careful not to wake the others, and tried to spot his trainer. As he did, he noticed it was later than he thought it was, with the sun at its highest point. "Lu?" Cobalt questioned, confused.

A nearby snort answered him, and he looked in its direction, to spot his trainer sleeping in what looked like a very uncomfortable position, on top of a log, with his neck at an awkward angle, and still in his pajamas.

Cobalt quirked an eyebrow and walked over. A book was lying open on the ground near his hand but ignored that to lightly tap Sapphire's cheek. When that did nothing, he shrugged, reeling back and delivering a powerful slap.

Sapphire screamed, immediately tumbling head over heels backward. He jumped to his feet, holding a hand to his cheek. "Wha, Cobalt, what the hell?!"

"Riolu ri."

"No! That's not how it works! Riolu can't even learn Wake-Up Slap!"

"Zzt, well he did slap you, and you did wake up, should I add Wake-Up Slap to Riolu's movepool?"

"Shut up, Rotom!" Sapphire glared at his bag, before turning back to the snickering fighting type. "So what the hell was that about?!"

Cobalt silently pointed up at the midday sun. "Huh. I thought I would wake up at least a bit earlier…" Cobalt gave him a flat look. "Alright, alright, go wake the others, I'll make breakfast. Er, Lunch."

Cobalt grabbed his pant leg before he could wander off, and pointed at the book that lay open on the ground. "Olu?"

"Oh, that?" Sapphire bent over and picked it up, dusting it off and memorizing what page he was on before closing it. "It was one of the books Willow's friend sent us."

"Riolu?"

Sapphire paused for a moment. "I… well I was reading it because I need to learn how to protect myself. And you guys."

Cobalt gestured back to the tent. "Olu riolu lu, io!"

"I know you guys can protect me, and yourselves, but I also need to protect myself. Remember Haunter? I was shocked still while you guys fought, and couldn't protect myself! And I'm sure you guys could have won in the end, but you were all still getting your butts kicked when you snapped me out of it!"

Sapphire sighed and sat down, reaching out to give Cobalt a light noogie. "Believe me, I trust you guys fully, but I don't trust myself. Next time something happens when we're in trouble, I want to be able to help, beyond just coming up with strategies."

Cobalt cracked a smile, pushing Sapphire's hand away. "Rio."

"Oi, that is not all I'm good for!" He chuckled, pushing him towards the tent. "Now go, we need to make up for lost daylight. We're almost to the pokémon center outside Ilima's trial." Cobalt gave a joking salute and jogged to the tent as Sapphire turned around and began making breakfast. Lunch? Brunch.

Sapphire got out some ingredients from his bag and the cooler inside his bag, and began making toast and scrambled eggs. As he did he heard a screech from behind him and turned to see Claws and Chrysant walking up normally, while Cobalt walked over covered in ash, and carrying a peacefully sleeping Storm on his shoulder.

"You've got a bit of something there. On your everything. I think it's ash." Claws and Chrysant laughed as Cobalt scowled, and Storm snored. "Go wash up before eating please." Cobalt rolled his eyes and dumped Storm on the ground before wandering off to find a stream.

"Don't get lost!" Sapphire chuckled, filling his pokémon's food and water bowls. Cobalt just scowled back, trying to make a rude gesture with just three 'fingers' on his paw.

* * *

Sapphire stretched his arms over his head as he entered the pokémon center, yawning. "Told you we wouldn't have to set up camp again!"

"Olu…" Cobalt shook his head, muttering from his resting place in Sapphire's bag. Sapphire just snorted and approached the Nurse Joy behind the counter. Who was apparently a part of a large family of Joy's? Who were all also nurses? Yeah, Sapphire really just didn't understand it.

"Hi, are there any rooms open?"

"Of course! With the trial location so close by, we have extra large dormitories, we always have an open room!"

"Oh, that's why the building looked bigger than other centers."

Nurse Joy laughed, covering her mouth. "Yes, that's why. Either way, your room is number twenty-two, and here's your key. Enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you!" Sapphire waved, as did Cobalt albeit a bit more lethargically. Sapphire walked past the dining area, heading straight for the dorms so he could get to sleep. He entered his room, letting Cobalt climb out of his bag before he tossed it onto a chair. "I'm going to take a shower before I head to bed, streams are fine but they're freaking freezing!"

Cobalt muttered face down into the bed, waving him away. Sapphire snorted and rolled his eyes, grabbing his sleeping clothes, which were really just gray-black sweatpants and a t-shirt, from his bag and head into the shower.

* * *

"He went in there?"

"Yeah, I'm sure of it!"

"Perfect, our revenge is almost complete!" The two Team Skull grunts that Sapphire and Hau had curbstomped, let's just call them One and Two, cackled to themselves, hiding in the bushes outside the pokémon center Sapphire was staying in.

"So… What is our revenge?" Two turned to One, his bandanna hiding the turn questioning turn of his lips.

"Obviously it'll be us attacking and then stealing his pokémon!"

"But… didn't he kick our butts when we fought him before?

"Idiot! Last time he had his friend with him, this time he'll be all alone! Then, we'll extract our revenge on his friend by using this guy's pokémon!"

"Whoa! That's genius, bro!

"I know, bro!" The two grunts cackled to themselves, giving each other a high-five.

"Sooo… when do we attack?"

"When he falls asleep of course! He won't expect it then!"

"Ha! Of course!" He paused. "When's that?"

"…let's wait awhile just in case." And so they waited. Several hours.

"…Bro… Bro, come on… let's… let's go." One shook Two's shoulder, yawning. "Come on, he's got to be asleep by now…" Two grumbled, getting up and following One, as they crept towards the pokémon center.

They circled around the main building until they reached the dorms. They began looking in through the windows, trying to find the room with the blue garbed trainer. Eventually, they found the right room, as they looked in to see the kid sleeping in a bed, with that tiny blue pokémon next to him. "Here, help me open the window," One whispered to Two.

They each gripped the bottom of the window trying to pull it up, but since Sapphire wasn't an idiot, he had made sure the window was locked before he went to sleep.

"Damn, what kind of idiot locks their windows at night? Doesn't he know we need our revenge?" Two grumbled, folding his arms.

One scowled beneath his bandana, rubbing his chin. "Alright… New plan, smash the window, steal his bag! He should have his pokémon in there!"

"But then we won't embarrass him thoroughly!"

"Doesn't matter, he'll be embarrassed enough by our epic escape!"

"Genius!"

"Exactly!" One released his Zubat, which fluttered to the window. "Alright, break it!" Zubat breathed in, before letting out a high-pitched screech. The window trembled for a moment, before shattering. One dove inside, scrambling for a moment, before grabbing Sapphire's bag from a chair. Meanwhile Sapphire had fallen out of the bed, startled by the shattering of the glass. Cobalt had been as well, and they both had fallen as they moved around confused.

One exited the exact same way, and both himself and Two ran, as Sapphire and Cobalt finally realized what had happened and ran to the window. "Oh, son of a… Cobalt, let's go!" Cobalt barked his assent and climbed onto his shoulder as Sapphire vaulted out of the window.

"Cobalt, can you track their Aura?" Cobalt barked and closed his eyes, the Aura sensors on the sides of his head lifting up slightly as he concentrated. He pointed towards Route two, making Sapphire sigh. "What the hell is up with Route two that keeps us coming back to it?!" He subsequently sprinted toward the route that the two grunts had run towards.

"Hah… Hah… Did… Did we lose them?" One panted, leaning against a tree as he tried to catch his breath.

"I… I think so. We're really far off the path so we can stop to catch our breath for a little while at least…" Two was also breathing hard, falling back against a tree. "Hey, you got the backpack right?"

"Yeah, right here." One held up Sapphire's bag, before dumping it on the ground. "Thing's heavy as hell, what is he carrying in there?!" He opened it up and began digging through it. "Maybe he's got something valuable!" The first thing he pulled out was Sapphire's clothes, including his trainer belt that had his pokéballs on it. "Ha! And here's what we came for!" He placed the belt down, rummaging through the rest of his bag.

"Clothes, a cooler, food, books, wow this guy has nothing interesting on him at all! Oh, what's this?" He pulled out a pokéball that seemed to be covered in webbing and stuck closed, which to him made it seem like some incredibly valuable pokémon was inside. "Here, help me with this!" The two grunts began pulling at the webbing, slowly tearing it off, layer by layer. When all of the webbing was finally off, One grinned, tossing it into the air. "Alright, let's see what was so valuable that you covered its ball in multiple layers of web!"

The ball popped open, and Haunter appeared, shaking his head. "Haunt?"

"What? It's just a stupid haunter! They aren't very powerful at all!" Haunter, upon hearing One's voice, turned and let loll his tongue out.

"Haunt haunt!"

"Aw, just return it, dude! It ain't worth our time!" One nodded, at Two's words, pointing the pokéball at the ghost type. Haunter laughed as he dodged the red beam, and blew his tongue at the grunt.

"Hey, don't mock me! Get in the ball!" Haunter dodged again, and then a third time. "Alright that's it, Zubat go!"

"You too, Zubat!" And so, two Zubats popped out of their pokéballs. Haunter looked at the two bats and laughed, not expecting much from them. One's Zubat sped in, trying to bite down on the gas pokémon. Haunter just grabbed Zubat's body and laughed as he licked him, paralyzing him, before tossing him over his shoulder. Two swooped in to try and attack from behind, but Haunter just went Incorporeal and laughed as the Zubat slammed into the dirt.

"Oh." One paused. "Well, he just jumped up in value! We've gotta catch him!" Haunter sweat-dropped at the lack of awareness the two grunts had and face-palmed. He subsequently began lazily dodging pokéball beams as the thug began trying to return him.

"...ey'd go?" Sapphire ran through the underbrush, pushing aside branches. Cobalt pointed a little to the side, and Sapphire adjusted his himself accordingly. "Hey, you alright to keep going?" Cobalt nodded, sweating slightly. Sapphire sighed and shook his head. "Alright, but hopefully we find them soon. Don't want you fainting on me yet."

Sapphire jumped over a log, stumbling slightly as he landed wrong, before catching himself and continuing to run. He heard sounds ahead, and felt an extra burst of speed, realizing he was closing in on the thugs. He exited into a small opening in the trees, to see the grunts running around the clearing trying to return the ghost type he had just caught. "Oh dear."

"Huh?" Two turned and pointed at Sapphire in panic. "Dude, look!"

"What? Oh crap!" One skid to a halt and pointed his hand at Sapphire. "It seems you've caught up with us! Well, It looks-"

"Look, can you not do the whole rapping thing or whatever? I've caught up with you, if you leave now I promise I won't have my pokémon kick your pokémon's asses."

One began fuming at being interrupted and stomped his foot. "Don't interrupt me when I'm being cool!"

"Come up with a cool motto maybe, then I'll think about letting you talk!" Sapphire suddenly got a horrible sense of foreboding.

"Grah! Zubat, get him!" Cobalt prepared for battle… and was rather confused when no Zubat appeared. "Oh yeah, the Haunter knocked 'em out."

"How do you forget that?! Whatever! Rotom!" Sapphires bag shuffled, and Rotom popped out, buzzing. "Release Storm!"

"Zzt! Roger dodger!" Rotom dived for Storm's pokéball, releasing the slumbering electric type.

"Word of advice! Never bother Storm as he's sleeping!" Sapphire then stuck his fingers in his mouth and blew a shrill whistle. Storm shot awake, eyes locked onto the grunts. "Storm, those are the guys that woke you! Zap 'em!" The grunts gulped as Storm chittered angrily, and screamed as lances of electricity shot into them.

The forest was briefly lit by the lightning, before with an explosion, One and Two were launched into the sky. Their Zubat's had woken from the loud explosion and followed them not wanting to be electrified as well.

Sapphire shivered even harder as he got a much stronger sense of foreboding. As if grunts that had a lame motto that he would have to explode would be appearing every day for the foreseeable future.

"Nicely done, Storm. You sent 'them flying!" Storm clicked his mandibles in a manner that could either be seen as smug, or annoyed. "Rotom, why didn't you release him or the others earlier?"

"Zzt, well I wazz waiting for an opening! Luckily, you provided one!"

"Uh huh, sure." A sudden shiver went down his back, and he sighed, turning around. "And now to deal with you." Haunter laughed, sticking his tongue out.

"Haunt!"

"So, first things first." Sapphire bent down, beginning to tidy up his bag, and put everything back inside. "What you did was cruel. You showed a kid because even though I'm fifteen I haven't fully grown into an adult, their father's grave."

Haunter deflated at that, letting out a sheepish laugh. "Haunt…"

Cobalt mimed at Sapphire, making him nod. "Well, at least you apologized, Haunter. Second. I caught you, but it wasn't exactly fair. Storm." Storm rolled his eyes in response.

Haunter thought for a moment, floating upside down. He turned right-side up, pointing at Cobalt and Storm, raising his fists. "Haunter, haunt."

"You'd like to battle them?" Haunter nodded. "Alright. But even if I beat you, would you like me to release you? Because if you aren't going to be happy as a captured pokémon, I have no problem with letting you go, if you'd like." Haunter hummed for a moment, before giving the so-so gesture. You want to try out being my pokémon first then?" Haunter nodded.

"Well, Cobalt? Storm? What do you guys think?" Cobalt jumped down and nodded. Storm shrugged, walking forward. "Alright. Rotom, count us down!"

"Zzt! Alrighty! Three!"

Cobalt spread his feet.

"Two!"

Storm yawned.

"Juan!"

"Who?"

"Go!"

Haunter backed up into the air, forming Shadow Balls in his hands. He gestured forward, launching them at Sapphire's pokémon. Cobalt jumped in front of Storm, his type advantage nullifying the Shadow Balls into nothingness, but Haunter was prepared this time.

While the smoke from the explosions was still in the air, Haunter dove down preparing a Sucker Punch. Cobalt waved the smoke away, fist turning to steel, before coughing as Haunter slammed his fist into Cobalt's stomach. As Cobalt was launched into the air, Storm launched himself into Haunter's stomach, sparkling with electricity.

Haunter chortled at the impact before his eyes bugged out and he cried as Storm let out a point-blank Shockwave. "Now Cobalt, bring down the hammer!" Haunter looked confused at Sapphire's command, grabbing Storm and holding the struggling bug out to the side, until he looked up. Cobalt was spinning in a vertical fashion, his leg creating a flame wheel like look as he fell incredibly fast from the sky.

Haunter threw Storm to the side, bringing both hands up in an attempt to catch the blazing fighting type. While also forgetting he was a ghost and could just go intangible. Cobalt crashed down, his momentum combined with the already powerful Blaze Kick caused Haunter to be smashed into the ground. Cobalt continued mashing him into the ground then backflipped away, landing gracefully.

As Haunter was still stuck in the ground, Storm prepared several electrical webs shooting them at the Ghost-type. Instead of being caught in the webs this time, Haunter phased through the ground and came up behind Storm. The bug type spun and began preparing more webs, but Haunter picked him up and used Fling to toss him at Cobalt.

The small pokémon braced to catch the bug type, and was unprepared for Haunter to cough up a Sludge Bomb, the poisonous attack splashing across the two pokémon. The acidic attack was both physically damaging as well as mentally due to the rank scent, and both pokémon gagged trying to get the poison off of them. However, as both pokémon were still covered in the goo, Haunter lit his fist on fire and punched them, the flames quickly igniting the poison and exploding it.

Storm sailed off into the forest, and Cobalt was launched backward, tumbling head-over-heels. "Cobalt, detect!" Cobalt shook his head and saw Haunter bearing down on him with both hands wreathed in flames. He quickly focused his aura making his eyes glow red as he nimbly dodged one Fire Punch, then another as he ducked backward. Haunter quickly followed up with several bursts of flame as he punched at Cobalt, but instead of trying to make contact, stopped his punches short to let the flames fly forwards like an ember attack.

Sapphire watched Cobalt dodge the flames, thinking. "Cobalt, keep moving, I've got an idea!" Cobalt barked an affirmative, rolling below a flame. "Okay, when you get the chance, start using Blaze Kick, but don't attack!" Cobalt looked confused but did as he said. Cobalt lit his legs aflame, leaving trails of embers as he flipped around.

"Alright, now focus on the feeling of creating those flames! Hold it in your mind!" Cobalt shot him an incredulous look, before gagging as Haunter let off a Smog attack. "Alright Cobalt, bring that feeling forward, quickly! Literally, wreath your body in flames! You can do it!" Cobalt closed his eyes and focused on the feeling he got when he used Blaze Kick, which felt very familiar to aura now that he was consciously focusing on the feeling. However, it was also different in the fact that it felt wilder, hotter, primal.

Cobalt felt fire-typed aura flow through his body, and suddenly his body burst into flames, burning away the smog attack that surrounded him. "Alright, nice job Cobalt!" Cobalt looked down at his body, covered by the bright orange and yellow fire. He grinned at the implications that came with this but instead focused on what was happening at the time, as he launched forward to let several flaming fists fly.

Haunter laughed, finally seeing a challenge. He charged up a Dark Pulse between both hands, letting a ray version of the attack blast towards the riolu. Cobalt leaped over it, bringing a flaming palm strike down on Haunter's forehead causing the ghost type to recoil from the powerful strike. Cobalt continued the assault, until Haunter just grabbed Cobalt midair, wincing at the flames licking at his hands.

Haunter lifted the jackal looking pokémon into the air… before unceremoniously slamming Him into the ground multiple times. Sapphire winced from the sidelines, "Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark…"

Meanwhile, lying injured in the bushes, Storm lay, continuously using charge on himself, building immense electrical power. He very much wanted to win this battle, but maybe for the wrong reason. Because the only thought going through his mind was about how he could go back to sleep when they won. This determination to get back to sleep, combined with the multiple Charges, triggered something within him, and suddenly the forest was bathed in white light…

Haunter was now holding Cobalt upside down, as the flaming riolu tried to punch his hand, but his position upside down sapped most of the strength from his punches. Suddenly, a small red form flew out of the brush, blazing with electrical power. Haunter was so surprised that he didn't even try to dodge, and the red object slammed him back, electrocuting him.

The red object bounced against the ground, skidding to a stop. "Charja!" It was Storm, but his body had changed. His body had turned more rectangular, turning a bright red, with blue square eyes and smaller yellow mandibles. His mouth had turned into a small gray rectangle with sharp teeth, which clanged together vertically. Overall, he either looked like a battery or a tiny bus.

"Alright Storm, you've evolved!" Storm buzzed in response, electricity buzzing along his form. "Into a tiny bus?" Storm shot him a look. "Sorry, but you seriously look like a tiny bus. Back me up, guys."

"Lu rio."

"Zzt. Most trainerzz notice that."

"Haunt."

Storm glared at him, before turning and firing several bolts of electricity at Haunter. Haunter endured them, his hands becoming covered in darkness, and then his body as he used Shadow Punch. Storm looked around for Haunter and didn't see Haunter's form appearing from his shadow until Cobalt had tackled him out of the way.

"Careful Cobalt, your flame technique is going to hurt your friends just as much as enemies!" Cobalt nodded, distancing himself from Storm so he wouldn't burn him. "Alright, he's starting to look pretty tired guys, get ready to finish him off!"

"Rio!" Cobalt barked in agreement, renewing the flames around him, as Storm charged himself up. Haunter used a Dark Pulse, this time an actual pulse attack, spreading out in a sphere shape that quickly engulfed Sapphire's pokémon. Cobalt braced himself by spreading his legs to stand more steadily, while Storm just hunkered closer to the ground than he already was. They were both buffeted by the attack, being pushed back by the wave of dark type energy that Haunter continuously blasted out.

Cobalt eventually began working his way towards Haunter, fighting against the Dark Pulse, before he was able to power through it completely, his paw shining as he used Bullet Punch causing Haunter to grimace as he jabbed him in the "stomach", and giving Grubbin the space to attack with another Thunderbolt.

Haunter spasmed around as the electricity buzzed through his body, and Cobalt took the opportunity to land several more blows until Haunter backhanded him away, looking even more worse-for-wear. "Cobalt, Storm, finish it! Electroweb into Flame Punch!"

Haunter grimaced and belched out waves of black smoke to create a Smokescreen to increase the chances of Storm missing his Electroweb, but unfortunately for him, Storm didn't care about aim and just kept spewing webs until he heard Haunter cry out. Cobalt took this as his cue, jumping into the smoke and tracking Haunter by the glowing yellow webs. He brought his fist back, trailing orange flames as he brought it down onto Haunter's face.

Haunter had seen him coming, however, and belched out a Smog attack in defense. The same Smog that was extremely flammable.

The resulting explosion would make a pyromaniac drool, as the flames erupted gloriously outwards, engulfing both pokémon within the smoke cloud, as well as Storm, in bright orange and red flames. Sapphire meanwhile watched on, slack-jawed at the explosion, from a safe distance, and behind a tree. As the smoke cleared, it revealed the blackened and unconscious forms of Cobalt and Storm. Haunter was floating midair and raised a finger, presumably to say some one-liner in pokémon speak, before coughing out smoke and fell over, unconscious.

"That… was… I don't even know." He returned Cobalt and Storm, and then Haunter. "Welp. Welcome to the team. Wonder what nickname I should give you? Or if you want one anyway…" He placed Haunter's pokéball on his belt, which was almost filled, with five of the six pokéball clips being used. "Now then. A comfy bed awaits me. Onwards or something." And so, he walked off valiantly, with a loud yawn.

* * *

Despite the weird and tiring events of the night before, Sapphire woke up the same time he always did, the crack of dawn. Cobalt was less than amused about it. "Lou ri…"

"Listen," Sapphire said, "it's just how I am! I can't control my internal clock!" Cobalt rolled his eyes in response, yawning. And after all the trouble he went through to bribe Rotom to turn off Sapphire's morning alarms, Sapphire woke anyway and dragged him off for training.

He finally stopped when he reached one of the dirt battlefields outside, reaching down to his belt for his other four pokémon. "Alright, come on out guys! It's time for training!" He tossed all four pokéballs skywards, releasing his varied team. Almost all of them materialized asleep, with the exception of Haunter who floated happily, licking him in greeting. "Haha, morning Haunter! Be careful with that thing, it can paralyze remember?"

"Haunt!" He laughed in response, licking Cobalt. Cobalt grimaced, flicking off the ghostly saliva… or was that ectoplasm? Either way, it was gross.

"Come on guys, up and at 'em!" Sapphire reached down and shook Storm, causing Haunter and Cobalt to hide behind him. Storm snapped awake, glaring at Sapphire and electrocuting him. "Ha! Nice try, but I bought rubber gloves this morning from the shop!"

Storm looked down at said gloves, before aiming his lightning at every other unprotected part of his body. "Charja."

Sapphire coughed, a puff of smoke coming out of his mouth. "Right. Next time get a full suit of rubber." He shook his head, clouds of ash flying off of him. "But anyway!" He dropped Storm and reached into his back pocket, grabbing a whistle which he quickly blew on.

Chrysant and Claws shot awake, barking and yowling respectively as Sapphire watched on, grinning. "Rise and shine, it's time for training!" His rock type dog and fire type cat groaned, covering their eyes with their paws. "So!" He clapped his hands together, reaching back to toss Cobalt over by them, and nudge Haunter towards them.

"We've reached our first trial, Ilima's trial, which is the normal type one. Now, before we even try to attempt this thing, I want to have at least a day's worth of battle training!"

"Rio, lu."

"Yes, I know we had training whenever we stopped to make camp, but that was general training, going over moves and working on various skills. This is specialized training! We are gonna be coming up with strategies, new moves, and train your speed, strength, and all that other fun stuff!"

"Bug, charja…" Storm looked less and less happy with the prospect of specialized training as he talked.

"So! First, let's do some endurance training! Everyone do ten laps around the track! Come on, I'll do it with you!" Sapphire began running around the track, quickly followed by Cobalt, then Chrysant and Claws, and then Haunter as he stayed behind to laugh at Storm's anger, before following the others. Storm grumbled, but decided to get it over with and began skittering after them.

At the end of it, Sapphire was lying on the ground, breathing heavily, as even Storm had passed him in the end. He hadn't paced himself since he never really trained for anything, or gone on runs, and had to start jogging by lap two, and was near passing out by lap eight, but finish he did. "Give… me… hah… just a second…"

Cobalt rolled his eyes, tapping his paw. "Riolu ri."

"You… you guys are used to battling and exertion… I'm not… so shut up…" Cobalt rolled his eyes, scoffing.

"Okay…" Sapphire got up, his hands on his knees. "Well, at least it was a good warmup for you guys…"

Haunter laughed, licking him.

"Wait. You're a ghost… You don't even get tired from any amount of exercise do you?"

"Haunt!" Sapphire sighed, and Chrysant patted his leg, sympathetically.

"Alright, whatever. Uh, maybe… speed and strength training!"

"Riolu?"

"Here," Sapphire replied, "I've got some weights you all can carry." Sapphire fished some weights out of his bag, giving one to each of them. "They aren't proper ankle weights, so you'll have to carry them while you're running."

"Lu?"

"Well, think about how if you train to run while carrying these, you'll get faster and stronger. Then, without them, you'll be even faster!" Cobalt thought about it for a second, before nodding. "Alright then, back and forth from one end of the field to the other, ten times! Get moving!" Cobalt once again took the lead, with Claws and Chrysant neck and neck behind him, while Haunter floated ahead of Storm lazily.

Sapphire, having learned his lesson, instead sat down, pulling out Korrina's book, reading from where he left off. "Alllrighty then, where was I? Uh, halfway through chapter two, I think…"

When Storm finally finished his speed training, they all lined up in front of Sapphire, who placed down his book. "Alright, endurance, speed, and strength training is done… what do you guys want to do next, evasion training or move training?"

"Riolu io?"

"Evasion training is everyone takes turns being attacked, and they have to dodge as many attacks that they can. Move training is you focus on training a single move, by adding a unique spin, or just being able to use it easier. So, raise one paw for evasion training, and two for moves."

Everyone raised two hands/paws.

"Cowards," Sapphire said, snorting. "Okay, Storm, I want you to focus on your new strength. Apparently, Charjabug has much more electrical potential than Grubbin, so focus on using powerful electric attacks while using as little power as possible. Being powerful is great, but if you're tired after one or two attacks, it's useless." Storm nodded, buzzing.

"Claws, train your Ember attack so that you can use Flamethrower without having to activate your Blaze ability, it'll be more useful if we don't have to rely on you being weakened to activate it." Claws flicked his tail, purring.

"Chrysant, you use Stone Edge and Stealth Rock a lot, which is all well and good, but opponents can catch on to your tricks quickly, so either start training other moves up, or come up with even more tricks for those moves." Chrysant barked, wagging her tail.

"Haunter… I'll be honest, I don't really know what you can train up on, so maybe try training to use Shadow Punch quicker, Cobalt was fast enough to tackle Storm out of the way when you used it, so get even faster." Haunter laughed, flashing a double thumbs up.

"Finally, Cobalt. I want you to train the new flame technique we came up with… let's call it Ignition. Get good enough at it that you can do it near instantly, then train so you can launch flames off of you as Haunter did with his Fire Punches." Cobalt nodded, folding his arms. "Alright everybody, you've got your tasks, you can work together if you'd like, or work alone. And if you need help, just come over and ask! Good luck guys!"

Cobalt sat down next to him, settling into a meditating stance, and closing his eyes. He proceeded to try and light himself on fire. Claws and Chrysant ran off together to one side of the field, while Storm and Haunter meandered over to the other side of the field. Sapphire smiled at his pokémon starting up their training, and returned to his own, reopening his book.

* * *

Claws watched on calmly as Chrysant ran circles around him, barking excitedly. " _Wow, this is going to be so much fun! A full day of training and then we take on our first trial! Nothing this exciting ever happened back at the ranch, except for maybe new trainers coming by!"_

" _Yes, so we should get started immediately then."_

" _Oh, who do you think he'll pick for the trial tomorrow? I hope he picks me! I'll totally kick the butt of whatever pokémon I face!"_

Claws flicked his tail back and forth, sighing. " _Apparently it's the normal type trial, so since you have an advantage in that you resist normal types, so the chance of you being picked to participate is quite high."_

" _Wow, you're right Mr. Claws! You're really smart!"_

" _Heh, of course I am. Er, anyway, I suppose we should get started then. Now, how should I train to create a Flamethrower…"_

" _Oh! Maybe try condenting your Ember attack so it's one long stream of Embers! That's kind of like a Flamethrower, right?"_

" _Uh… Well, firstly, it's condensing, not 'condenting', and second, good idea. Thank you."_

" _No problem! Now I have to find new tricks for Stone Edge and stuff! Oh, maybe I can make more of them and make them fly faster!"_

" _Well that's not really a new trick, it's just making them more dangerous, but I suppose it's a good start…"_

" _Thanks! Hey, should we practice against each other?"_

" _I suppose it could be useful to train for battle at the same time we are training our moves."_

" _Great!"_ Suddenly, huge pillars of rock were flying at Claws from multiple directions.

" _I already regret agreeing to this."_

* * *

" _So, how do we want to go about this?"_

" _..."_ Storm grumbled back, charging up.

" _I guess you could practice shooting lightning at me, and I'll practice using Shadow Punch until I'm fast enough to dodge it only using that!"_ He subsequently had to dodge beneath a Thunderbolt. " _Yeah, now you're getting the hang of it!"_

* * *

Cobalt ignored the world around him as he focused, thinking up the flames that he used when using Blaze Kick, trying to bring them up around his whole body. When he fought Haunter, the adrenaline and excitement of battle had caused him to get a hold of it near instantaneously, but he couldn't rely on that in future fights. Now, without the rush of battle going on around him, he had only been able to trigger Ignition once in the last hour, and that was at the very end of the hour, so it probably hadn't even counted.

He tried to focus on the aura that wove it's way through his body, as it did with everything in the area, Sapphire's passionate yet serious aura to the right, Claws' cool-headed aura next to Chrysant's excitable aura, and Storm's lazy aura next to Haunter's gleeful aura. Not to mention the auras of the trees and grass and everything around him. He focused inside himself, feeling the differently typed auras that he either consciously or unconsciously pulled forth to use moves.

The fighting type aura, strong and determined, steel type, steadfast and unbendable, a bit of the dark type, mischievous and clever, fire type, warm yet dangerous. He focused on the last one, trying to force it out. Normally it was easy, as it had a set path to flow through in his body. It would flow straight to his legs, igniting them for Blaze kick, but now he was spreading it to his whole body. He was pushing it off of its set path.

This was one of the faults of the Riolu and Lucario species. They would learn new moves a bit slower than other pokémon, but when they tried to change and innovate a move that already had a set path through their body, it would take even longer.

For example, Chrysant learning Stone Edge was easy, as all she had to do was shift control of her Stealth Rock to make it move and attack with or without her, instead of being what was essentially a floating minefield. Yes, her aura had a set path, but she could ignore it, as she did not have such a close connection to her Aura like Riolu and Lucario. They, however, could feel their aura moving and had to make an effort to move it off its course. Once they did the move a few times, new pathways would have been made, making it much easier, but whenever they first start it is much harder than any other pokémon.

Cobalt could feel the pathway he had started to create when he had first used the move, and then again when he had used it once in the last hour, but it was still its own little trial to finish the pathway. Cobalt finally huffed, opening his eyes and wincing at the bright sunlight. "Hey, having a bit of trouble there?"

Cobalt looked at his trainer out of the corner of his eye, chuckling. He was still reading through his book, but he had stopped to look at him. He focused on the aura within him, trying to bring it forth and translate his words. He could sense that he still didn't have a fine enough control over it, but it at least helped convey his meaning. "Riolu, io lu rio riolu."

"If you're having trouble, no one will fault you for taking a short break, bud."

"Olu rio, ri."

"Well, no one can say you aren't determined." Sapphire paused, tapping his chin. "Alright, how about this." Cobalt looked on as Sapphire dug into his bag and pulled out a thick book called 'Pokémon Moves for Dummies!' "Not the most flattering title, I know, but it fits. After all, I didn't even know that counter was a move after all!"

Sapphire flipped through it until he apparently reached the page he wanted. "Here we go, check this out." He handed Cobalt the book, who began looking through it. The page was on some move called Force Palm, which seemed to rely on the user being capable of using aura. "I figured, hey, I'm already trying to learn a bit about aura, why not have my partner and user of aura help me out?"

Cobalt smiled and barked, nodding. "Alright then, so, you're the resident pokémon aura expert, how do we start?" Cobalt grinned, patting his paws against his legs, closing his eyes. "Of course it has to do with meditation…" Sapphire chuckled, settling into a butterfly stance, closing his eyes. "So, race to see who can reach their aura first or whatever?"

Cobalt opened an eye and lifted an eyebrow. "Riolu ri."

"Screw you, it's totally a race. And I'm gonna kick your butt, too!" Sapphire grinned and Cobalt smirked back, closing his eyes again.

* * *

Sapphire groaned, leaning back in his seat. His back was killing him from sitting still for so long in one position, with the only thing that had even allowed him to even meditate for so long was sheer stubbornness and force of will. Next to him, Cobalt snickered stretching easily, his nimble body being used to battle and meditation.

"Oh shut up. I'll have you know I did awesomely, I even felt something deep within myself! Although that might have just been my stomach." Cobalt rolled his eyes as he finished his dinner, placing his plate on top of Sapphire's. Sapphire stood up, cracking his back. "Alright, so, do you think we should do some or training tomorrow, or go for it and attempt the Trial?"

Cobalt hopped onto his shoulder as he thought about it, watching as he threw away their garbage, and placed their tray and plates back. "Olu olu."

"I know that, but we can't just underestimate it because it's our first Trial. And better more training than less." He exited the small cafe area, walking back to their room. "But I guess it doesn't matter, if we fail we'll just know that we need a bit more training."

"Didn't expect to see you two here." Sapphire started and turned to see Willow walk up with a small smile on her face. "Looks like I've caught up with you."

"If you have any less than five pokémon you'd be wrong about that!" Sapphire laughed, grinning. "Nice to see you, Willow, finally had enough of Hau'oli?" Cobalt waved, barking, and Willow reached out to rub between his ears.

"It was fun, but I wanted to begin catching up to you. I thought you would have finished the trial already and moved on, however."

"Eh, there were a couple of setbacks that slowed us down before we even got here, and then we spent all of today training to get ready for the Trial. We think we're going to attempt it since we got a lot done today. Plus, while you shouldn't rely completely on type advantage, Cobalt is a fighting type, so that'll help!"

"I suppose it will," she said back, smiling. "I assume you already have a room then? I wouldn't want to inconvenience someone by taking an empty room when you already have one."

"Yeah, hold on, I'll get an extra key from Nurse Joy and then lead you to it." Willow flashed him a smile, which he returned as he felt his cheeks warm. He absentmindedly flicked Cobalt on the nose as he started snickering, walking towards the counter. "Hi Nurse Joy, could I have an extra key for my room, please? My friend just arrived, and they need a key for our room."

"Of course, here you go!" Sapphire grinned and thanked her, giving the spare key to Willow and leading her to his room.

"Alright here we are, make yourself at home!" Sapphire stepped aside, bowing theatrically. Willow shook her head and set her bag down on one of the spare beds.

"Nice room you've got here, how much did it cost?"

"Thousands madam, thousands!" They both laughed, and Sapphire sat down on his bed. "The bathroom's over there, I was going to take a shower since, y'know, training all day outside, but you can go first if you'd like."

"Thanks, I'll take you up on that." She smiled and dug through her bag, presumably to grab her pajamas. He hadn't actually seen them when they all stayed in the same room the night before, since he fell asleep as quick as he always did, which was pretty much instantly, while the two girls were changing in the bathroom.

Sapphire sat back on his own bed, stretching. He subsequently began ignoring Cobalt who was wiggling his eyebrows at a frankly insane speed. "I have no idea what you are suggesting you… tiny blue jackal."

"Riolu rio olu."

"Silence your face hole." He rolled his eyes as Cobalt continued snickering, grabbing his own pajamas from his bag. "Besides, I'm not going to ask a girl I've only known for a bit less than a week to go out with me!"

Riolu waved his paw nonchalantly, and flexed his arms, signaling that Sapphire should just have a bit of confidence in himself, he was a good looking kid! Funny and smart too!

Sapphire shook his head, chuckling. "Cobalt, you're trying to tell a fifteen-year-old boy to just be confident and ask a girl out. Do you see any problems with this scenario?" Cobalt scoffed, crossing his arms. "And besides… I'm pretty sure she knows I already like her. Who the hell would miss the Snorlax sized blush I had when I saw her?" Cobalt had to admit, that was a pretty large blush. He almost expected Sapphire to suddenly erupt in a nosebleed, but they didn't live in an anime like the stuff Sapphire watched.

"Just… When I saw her, I fell for her looks, because, come on, she's beautiful. But you remember how I tried to tamp it down, act normal the rest of the day, and the days afterward? It's because I wanted to get to know her first, as a person, not just a pretty face. I mean, I still don't know her that well, you can't fully understand a person within the very first week of meeting them, but when I do, I'll ask her out then, alright?"

Cobalt thought about it, before smiling and nodding. Honestly, hearing Sapphire say he wanted to know Willow better as a person, and not just a pretty face and body, before even thinking about asking her out made his chest swell with pride. He didn't need any more proof that his trainer was a good and worthy trainer besides looking at his aura, but damn it if he didn't keep giving him proof. Of course, no matter how good and worthy you are, you were always susceptible to teasing.

And as the Trainer and his partner bickered back and forth good-naturedly in their room, Willow stood in the bathroom, blushing. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she had forgotten to grab a towel from her bag and had almost exited the bathroom when she heard Sapphire talking with Cobalt. While she wasn't as close to Cobalt as Sapphire was, and therefore only heard half the conversation, she could easily figure out what they were talking about. She crumpled her shirt up against her chest, feeling her heart pound in her chest, and smiled widely.

* * *

 **Hey, apologies for the multi-week absence, internet and school troubles slowed me down just a tad. I think I'll also be able to get out the next chapter of World's Apart next Saturday as well so anyone who reads both of these stories can rejoice. Reviews and Constructive criticism are always welcome.**


	8. Chapter 8: A Pretty Normal Trial

**Howdy, it's been a while. Won't say much since y'all will probably want to get right into the story, unless you're reading this all at once after I've finished this story…**

 **Either way, SATs, college applications deadlines, high school, yadda yadda. Hopefully I can get the next chapter out soon, but for now, enjoy!**

Chapter 8: A Pretty Normal Trial

* * *

Ilima smiled as he saw Sapphire approach with a confident walk, while at the same time observing the totems outside the cavern. "It's good to see you again Sapphire. Are you here to attempt my trial?"

"You know it Ilima," he exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. Cobalt barked an affirmative as well, with his own thumbs up."So, normal type trial right? What's that about?"

He chuckled, placing a hand on his hip. "Exactly what it sounds like. You complete a task, then battle the Totem Pokémon. After you defeat it, you'll be allowed to take the Z-Crystal."

"Sounds easy enough!" Sapphire clenched his dust in front of him and grinned. "So what's your task?"

"There are three pokémon nesting inside the cavern, find their dens and defeat them."

"That's it? I thought there would be, y'know, more."

"Remember, you still have to battle the Totem Pokémon, and even besides that the pokémon inside are stronger than most wild pokémon. After all, by completing the island trials you exceed your limits, becoming stronger, or that's what the Alolan people believe anyway. If you feel you aren't ready, there is no shame in more training."

"Nah, we're ready as we'll ever be! So, how do we start, do you say go, or do I just…?"

Ilima laughed, gesturing to the cave entrance. "Just head inside! Just remember, you can't exit until you've either finished the trial or failed." Sapphire nodded and entered the cave entrance.

"Let's do this Cobalt!" Sapphire grinned as Cobalt pumped his fist. They entered the deepest part of the cavern and looked around in wonder. The cave had natural light flowing in from the ceiling, where holes in the ceiling let sunlight in, illuminating the overgrown cavern. All sorts of plants grew along the cavern walls and were hanging from the ceiling, with an opening to the outside at the very back of the room. There were several trial guards standing around, probably to make sure he wouldn't be cheating.

One of them was walking up now, waving. "Alola, I assume you already know how this trial works?"

"Yep. Defeat three pokémon, then go fight the Totem Pokémon and grab the Z-Crystal."

"Yep, you've got it! Oh, and you aren't allowed to catch any pokémon until you've completed the trial. Now, are you ready for the first of your eight trials?"

"Ready as we'll ever be!"

"Alright then!" The Guard grinned as Sapphire dashed forwards. "Trial Start!"

Sapphire hopped down a ledge and began looking around, trying to find the first den that the pokémon were hiding in. Sapphire bent over, sticking his face under a rock to look for the pokémon. "Hey, hidden pokémon! Come on out!"

Cobalt felt a sweatdrop roll down his head. "Riolu rio…"

"What do you mean they won't come out if I ask them too?" Sapphire began to back out from the outcropping to turn towards Cobalt before a Yungoos jumped out and bit down on his nose. "AH, CRAP!" He fell backward, clutching the pokémon as he tried to tear it off of his nose.

Cobalt shot forwards and grabbed the pokémon, tackling him away. The normal type growled at him, baring its incredibly sharp fangs. Cobalt barked in response, settling into a battle stance. The Yungoos lunged at him attempting to bite down on him, but Cobalt retaliated by grabbing his head and slamming him into the ground. He then continued to do this until Yungoos was knocked out, swirls replacing his pupils.

"Ah… Nice job Cobalt." Sapphire rubbed his nose and spoke in a slightly nasal tone. "Ugh… Am I bleeding? I think I'm bleeding."

"Olu."

"Zzt, there appearzz to be no lasting damage to your nose. Only your pride."

"Hardy har Rotom. Don't make me find some way to turn you off!"

"Zzt, before I go back to sleep mode, when are you going to use that thing we practiced Cobalt?"

"What's that?"

"Cobalt and I snuck out last night because he wanted help learning a move. I won't spoil it though."

Sapphire shrugged, "Alright fair enough. And good job taking that Yungoos down quickly Cobalt. Didn't Ilima say that the pokémon in here are pretty tough though? Maybe fighting Haunter got our expectations up…"

Cobalt shrugged in response and stretched, "Rio."

"Yeah yeah, just hop on." Cobalt grinned and climbed him, as Sapphire began walking to find the next den. He crawled under a wall with a small opening near the bottom and skirted away from a ledge that led to a large drop. "You see a bottom to that thing?"

"Olu…" Sapphire kicked a rock over the side and counted until he heard a 'thunk' from the bottom.

"Okay, two seconds… that's, what, nineteen feet?" Cobalt shrugged back, and they continued walking next to the ledge. "I think that's survivable?"

"Olu."

"Well for you, yeah. I'm not so sure for me." Cobalt patted his shoulder and pointed towards a small hole in the cave wall, with signs of inhabitation near the entrance. "What, is that a den?"

"Riolu." Cobalt jumped down and charged into the den. Sapphire waited for a few moments, then began leaning against a wall. Then crossed his arms. He began groaning in boredom when Cobalt shot out of the hole, pursued by a yungoos. "Olu ri ri, RIOLU!" Cobalt blocked the yungoos' bite attack with one of his arms, before delivering a palm strike to the center of its stomach. The yungoos flew back and slammed into the wall, slowly sliding down it before Cobalt appeared in front of it and slammed his knee into its face, knocking it out.

"Nice job." Sapphire high fived Cobalt and put him back on his shoulder. "Now to find the last one." He began walking again, passing the exit that was near the back of the cavern, and circling around to the leftmost wall. Well, leftmost when he'd first entered, now it was on his right.

He trailed his hand along the wall, looking for any holes that could indicate a nest or small cave. He hummed as something glinted on the ground, and bent over to pick it up. It was a small rust colored cd, with no markings to give him a clue of what it was. "Hey, what do you think this is?"

"Zzt, that izz a TM, or Technical Machine. They can transfer knowledge of how to use a certain move to compatible pokémon. Thizz one is TM31, otherwise known as Brick Break, a fighting type move."

"Oh, thanks Rotom." Rotom grinned at him and flew back to his pocket. "Somebody probably dropped this in here during their trial, we should give it to Ilima or Nurse Joy so they can return it the owner if they come looking for it."

"Olu ri." Sapphire carefully wiped it off with his sleeve and found an empty pocket in his bag to store it in safely. As he was on his knees he spotted a hole in the wall, with what looked like movement happening inside. A second later, and Sapphire was on his back with a Gumshoos biting his nose. "Riolu olu!"

The Gumshoos looked slightly different from Yungoos, in that it was slightly bigger, and stood on two legs. It was apparently smarter, as it let go of Sapphire's nose and jumped away when Cobalt tried to kick him off. It folded its hands behind its back, looking down on the slightly shorter pokémon with clear disdain. "Cobalt," Sapphire pointed forward, "Low Kick!"

Cobalt sped forward and tried to unbalance the Gumshoos by kicking its legs out from beneath him, but the pokémon just jumped back lazily. Cobalt narrowed his eyes and tried using High Jump Kick and missed wildly as the pokémon ducked backward. Cobalt impacted bounced along the floor before catching himself, spinning and growling at the Gumshoos.

He snarled and leaped forward to kick out at the brown pokémon, who just stepped backward, then stepped to the side to avoid Cobalt's next attack, a sidekick. "Cobalt, calm down, he's riling you up!" Cobalt kicked out again, which the opposing pokémon dodged easily, again, and backed off, huffing. "Now, we need a strategy! Which we're awesome at!"

Cobalt turned to look at him.

"What?" Before Cobalt could respond, the Gumshoos swiped its tail through the ground, using Mud-Slap on the fighting type. Cobalt sputtered as mud got in his mouth, and coughed it out when Gumshoos slammed its tail into his stomach. "Ah, Cobalt! Get some ground, back up!" Cobalt nodded and jumped back, rubbing away the mud that got on his eyes.

"Riolu?"

"Alright, Super Epic Strategy Sigma!"

Cobalt turned to look at him again, the sheer deadpan in his voice translating itself. "Ri ol _e didn't even come up with any strategies or name them, we just learned and adjusted a lot of moves and then came up with ways to use them. And what the heck is a sigma?"_

Sapphire groaned. "You know what, just… just use Low Kick on the ground." The Gumshoos, who had been looking bored at their conversation, immediately perked up when he heard the name of an attack, getting back into the fight. He prepared to defend himself but was unprepared for Cobalt to kick the ground, sending up a wave of dirt and rocks.

As the Gumshoos tried to clear the dirt from its eyes, Cobalt bound forward, bringing his palm back. _"Alright, let's try this move out then! Force Palm!"_ Cobalt slammed his open palm into the stomach of the Gumshoos, releasing a burst of blue aura from his palm at the same time. Gumshoos fell back groaning in pain as Cobalt spun around and hit him with a flaming roundhouse kick.

Gumshoos fell over, and Cobalt placed his paws on his hips smugly. _"For a pokémon that was sneering down on me so much, you'd think he would take more than two hits!"_

"Definitely. And I see that the move you were practicing with Rotom was Force Palm!"

 _"Yep, it was a great training session!"_

"Well I'm sure it'll help in battle, but we should practice it more when we're done here to make sure you can do it consistently. You're translating yourself by the way."

 _"Really? Oh yeah, I guess I'm ge_ lu riolu. OLU!"

"And it's gone." Sapphire smirked as Cobalt punched his leg. "Now, time for the Totem Pokémon!" He grabbed Cobalt and ran over to the trial guard that was standing by the back of the cave, standing in front of the entrance to the Totem's grove. "Hey, hey, I just proved my strength to the three pokémon nesting here! Or something!"

"Ah, fantastic! Go right ahead inside!" Sapphire grinned and ran past the man as he stepped aside, and ran through the sunlight-filled entrance. He shielded his eyes to let them adjust to the contrast between the cave and the outside, before opening them to look around the grove he had stepped into. It was actually rather simple, just a small circular area, with the sky open above them and vines hanging down the walls.

At the very back of the area was a tan statue, with something grey glittering from inside it. "Think that's the Normal- Normali- Normalianim- Think that's the gemstone thing?" Cobalt snorted and nodded. "Well, where's the Totem pokémon?"

As soon as he said that, he stiffened as some sixth sense made itself known. "Olu?"

"I… don't know. It feels like something is watching me… the gaze is cutting right through me…" Sapphire rubbed his hands together, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest. "Whatever, come on let's see what happens if we try to take the gem thing." Sapphire walked forwards and reached out to grab at the Normalium Z, but stiffened when his instincts flared again.

He retreated quickly and looked up to see the Totem Pokémon standing on one of the cliffs. It jumped forwards, doing a quick somersault, before landing with ground shaking thump. It stood up revealing itself to be another Gumshoos, except this one was massive. A normal Gumshoos standing on its hind legs would go up to about his thigh, the Totem Pokémon was actually taller than him, and glared down at him and Cobalt with calculating eyes.

"Oh, crap."

"Olu riolu."

* * *

"Hello, Hau, how are you doing?"

"Heya, Willow! I'm doing great, I caught a new pokémon on the way here, and did a whole bunch of training! What about you? And where's Sapph?"

"I personally got two new pokémon since leaving Hau'oli and did some training myself as well. As for Sapphire, he's currently doing his Trial. I wanted to go with, but as I'm sure you'd know after living here your whole life, the only Trials that can be seen by spectators are Grand Trials. Mostly because of the fact that regular Trials have the trainers running around an area, and not just battling on a stage. Plus… well, he left at dawn."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that it's impossible to wake you up before eight!"

"H-hey, it's not impossible…"

"Well, back in Hau'oli we did keep trying to wake you up, and you wouldn't budge!"

"Listen, I'm not really a morning person, I'm much more of a night person…"

"Eh, either way, all I know is you don't even wake up on your own until it's around eleven!"

"You can stop anytime you know…"

Hau laughed. "Anyway, how do you think Sapphire is doing in the Trial?"

"I'm sure he's doing fine."

* * *

"WE ARE NOT DOING FINE!"

"RIOLU OLU!" Cobalt panicked as Totem Gumshoos attempted to Body Slam him, rolling out of the way and losing his balance when the Totem slammed into the ground where he just stood.

"Quickly, Cobalt, Force Palm!" Cobalt leaped forward and slammed his palm into Gumshoos side while unleashing a burst of Aura… Which only made Gumshoos scratch at his side irritated. "Oh, you've got to be joking."

Gumshoos then turned and swiped with his claws at Cobalt who jumped away to avoid the attack, and was subsequently caught in midair by Gumshoos tail. He flew through the air and slammed into a wall, sending cracks through it as he fell down.

"Cobalt, are you alright?!"

"Lu…" he groaned as he began getting up, rubbing his arm.

"Alright, Cobalt, return! Chrysant, let's do this!" Chrysant popped out of her ball, wagging her tail in excitement. "Use Howl!" Chrysant leaned down growling, then threw her head back and Howled, powering herself up.

The Gumshoos interrupted her by turning its tail to steel and swinging it to smash her aside. Chrysant responded by creating several pillars out of the ground using Stone Edge to block it and jumped away from the rubble that was created from the impact. She then jumped at the Totem Pokémon and quickly climbed its body before biting its neck.

Gumshoos growled and grabbed at her causing her to jump off to escape, before she barked and fired several Stone Edge attacks. Gumshoos deflected two, but the rest crashed and broke against its body making it grunt in surprise. Chrysant then tackled it, slamming her head into its stomach which didn't even make it flinch.

It glared down at her and grabbed her, tossing her into the air before slamming her into the ground with Iron Tail. "Chrysant!" She struggled back to her feet, before she was punted into the rock wall. Chrysant groaned as she tried to get back up, and looked up to see Gumshoos lift its foot to bring down on her.

However, before she would get crushed by the Totem, Cobalt appeared in front of her and held his arms out to block the stomp. He grunted as he felt the whole weight of the large pokémon crush him, shaking as he was slowly being pushed down. "Chrysant, get out of there! Now, Cobalt, Enduring Counter!" Cobalt grinned as his eyes flashed a much brighter red and channeled all the pain he felt through the Endure, putting it all into a Counterattack.

Gumshoos grunted and was pushed back, stumbling over itself, and Cobalt jumped up to unleash a Force Palm with Counter infused into it. Gumshoos flew back and dug several tracks through the ground, looking at Cobalt with a glint in its eyes.

Cobalt hopped back and forth as he felt the counter wane, looking over to make sure Chrysant was alright. She was licking one of her paws and wincing, before she padded over to him and barked to tell him she could still fight. Cobalt grinned and gave a thumbs up in return.

Gumshoos watched the two, before throwing its head back and roaring. Moments later two yungoos scurried out from out of small caves in the walls, moving in front of Gumshoos and hissing.

"That's right, Pokémon in Alola will sometimes call for help from other wild pokémon in the area! Even Totems!" Cobalt and Chrysant looked apprehensive about fighting both a Totem Pokémon and pokémon that would continually come to help it. "But since this isn't a regular battle and is actually a Trial, we get back up too! Claws, help us out!"

Claws popped out of his pokéball and raised an eyebrow at the large Totem Pokémon. "Lit?"

"Riolu lu ri."

"Ruff!"

"Alright Claws, you aren't injured, so can you hold off the Totem until Cobalt and Chrysant are finished dealing with the yungoos?" Claws nodded, flicking his tail smugly. "Alright, start out with Heat Wave!" Claws breathed in, and then released a… well, a wave of heat. The two yungoos were buffeted by it, but the Totem wasn't even affected.

As the two yungoos were pushed back, Cobalt and Chrysant charged at them, stopping them from helping the Totem fight Claws, who was running around the larger pokémon and firing several Embers. Gumshoos growled in annoyance while blocking the embers with its tail, before slamming it on the ground and using Earthquake. Claws stumbled across several broken stones and rocks as they lifted into the air, before beginning to jump across the rest and leap forwards biting down on Gumshoos' neck.

In the back, Cobalt caught a yungoos that was trying to tackle him and launched it into the air with a kick, where it got smacked back down because of one of Chrysant's Stealth Rocks. Sudden gnashing of teeth on his arm alerted Cobalt to the second yungoos, and he smashed the pokémon into the ground to make it release him before kicking it several feet back.

He then sped forward, kicking dirt up into the second yungoos' eyes and ducking under its blind Bite attack to grab it and launch it backward, where Chrysant grabbed it mid-air with a Bite. The yungoos struggled in her jaws, and she quickly shook her head around, before slamming herself face first into the wall to knock it out.

After making sure it was knocked out she let go, spitting out fur that got stuck in her teeth. Cobalt raised an eyebrow and she barked happily. "Cobalt, Chrysant, get over there and help Claws!"

"Olu!" Cobalt bound towards the Totem, and saw Claws get back… handed? By the Totem's tail, and fly backward through the air. Chrysant maneuvered one of her stealth rocks to catch him, lowering him to the ground to check on him. Gumshoos stomped on the ground, creating several cracks in the earth that snaked their way towards the three pokémon.

Cobalt jumped over the one going towards him, while Chrysant helped move Claws out of the way. "Guys, attack all at once! Overwhelm 'em!" Cobalt touched back onto the ground and sprinted for the larger than average pokémon, leaping up and delivering a Blaze Kick to its face. It took a step back, before growling and Roaring, the soundwaves physically throwing him back.

Chrysant and claws attacked from behind, Claws firing several Embers and Chrysant attacking with several Stone Edge pillars. Totem Gumshoos grunted and spun around swinging an Iron Tail, destroying the pillars, but missing the two small pokémon. They ducked underneath the swing, and both bit down on Gumshoos shins, Chrysant with a Bite, and Claws with Fire Fang.

The totem roared in anger wobbling on its feet and began to reach down to tear the fire and rock types off, before Cobalt snuck up from behind and used Force Palm, toppling it over.

"Guys, give it everything you've got now, while it can't retaliate!" The three pokémon immediately began attacking, Claws unleashing streams of Embers, Chrysant smashing the still floating Stealth rocks down on it, and Cobalt attacking with Blaze Kick.

Gumshoos began getting back up, visibly hurt now, and Sapphire called out to his pokémon again. "Cobalt, sweep the legs!" Cobalt dove to the ground and used Low Kick, knocking Gumshoos back down. He then resumed his attacks as Gumshoos growled, taking the hits.

Sapphire narrowed his eyes as Gumshoos didn't even attempt to get back up and just kept taking the punishment. His suspicions were confirmed as Gumshoos began glowing red as it used Bide. "Everyone back up!" Claws and Chrysant jumped back in time, but Cobalt was still in Gumshoos range as it quickly got up and brought its tail down hard, directly onto Cobalt.

It was subsequently confused on why Cobalt was still standing, and not unconscious. Sapphire grinned and threw his arm out. "Looks like we'll be testing out that move we discussed earlier than expected! Ultra Counter!"

Underneath Gumshoos tail, Cobalt grinned as his body turned a bright red, and picked Gumshoos up by the tail before spinning and slamming him back down. Gumshoos groaned in pain for the first time in the battle, before slowly getting back up. It looked at Cobalt, then Sapphire, before nodding and leaping out of the area.

"Sooo… did we win then?"

"Rio."

"Sweet."

Claws meanwhile looked between Cobalt, then Sapphire. "Lit en litten?"

"Oh, that little move? We came up with it in secret! It's like the Enduring Counter, where Cobalt uses Endure to make sure he doesn't knock himself out, and Counter to return the damage but doubled. Ultra Counter is basically the exact same thing, but it's used when the opponent attacks with their own Counter or Bide attack, or just an exceptionally powerful attack to, like, triple or quadruple the damage!"

Claws gave him a blank look.

"… It's Enduring Counter but with a cooler name." Cobalt rolled his eyes and pointed towards the statue with the Normalium Z. "Yeah, let's just go grab it." He walked forwards and reached inside the statue, pulling his hand out when he felt one of the crystals.

It was a small grey crystal shaped like a diamond, with a small black circle with two bigger half circles around it. Sapphire grinned as he felt the energy flowing from inside of it, and held it up to the sky. "Alright! We've completed Ilima's trial!" Cobalt grinned and tiredly pumped his fist, while Chrysant barked excited and Claws purred smugly.

"Come on guys, let's go show the gang!"

* * *

"Wow, so that's what a Z-Crystal looks like!" Hau grinned as he saw the reflection of himself in the small crystal. "Can't wait to know what it feels like to hold one of those in my own hand!"

"Just make sure you do enough training, that Totem Pokémon was hardcore!" Sapphire grinned as he flipped the small gemstone in the air. "It took three of my pokémon to finally take it down!"

"Duly noted." Willow smiled and crossed her arms. "I was planning on doing the trial tomorrow anyway, I was going to use the rest of today for training."

"Would Sapphire Chaser come to the front desk? Sapphire Chaser to the front desk." Sapphire looked up as the PA system spoke up.

"Guess that's my cue then." He quickly got out of his chair and exited the cafe area, walking towards the front desk. When he reached the front desk he smiled as he saw the nurse's assistant, a Chancey, holding a small tray with a Luxury ball, a pokéball with a flame sticker, and a regular pokéball.

"Here you are! Your pokémon took quite a beating, but now they're all feeling better!"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Sapphire grinned as he clipped the pokéballs to his belt, and released Cobalt. Cobalt jumped to his shoulder, barking as he did. "Nice to see you too bud! Say thank you to Nurse Joy!"

"Riolu ri!"

"Aw, it was no trouble at all!"

"Alright, now let's…" Sapphire turned away, before he remembered the TM from the Trial. He turned back around, fishing the small disc out of his bag. "Nurse Joy, I found this TM in Ilima's trial, should I just leave this here, or what?"

"Oh, someone said they'd lost their TM in the trial, I'll just get onto the intercom." She pressed a button on the desk, leaning forward into a microphone. "Would whoever lost their TM in Captain Ilima's trial come to the front desk? TM…"

"TM31 Brick Break."

"TM31 Brick Break, it's been found."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Sapphire leaned against the counter and waited, until an older teenager, probably around eighteen, walked up.

"Hey, I'm here about the TM thing?"

"Yep." Sapphire grinned and held it out. "Got it right here."

"Yeah, well, about that…" The boy reached into his bag and pulled out what looked like a large elongated CD case. "I already kind of bought a replacement TM31, so I don't really need it anymore."

"Oh. So what should I do with it?"

"You could keep it if you'd like, do you know what TM's do?"

"Yeah, they teach moves to compatible pokémon."

"Right, well when I bought this replacement TM, I got an extra TM case because apparently, I was the shop's one-thousandth customer, but since I already have one…" he fished out a white case with a blue center from his backpack and handed it over.

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Course! No skin off my back! The names Jacob by the way, what about you?"

"Sapphire. It was a pleasure to meet you, Jacob!"

"Heh, you too! Hey, did you hear the rumors about them making a Pokémon League here in Alola?"

"Whoa, really? I just thought they did trials here!"

"Yeah, apparently it's a new thing!"

"Well, if they do make a league, maybe we'll battle there!"

"Ha, maybe! Anyway, I'm going to get going now, I finished my trial a few days ago and was just hanging around to train a bit. I'll see you around I guess!"

"Yep, see ya!" Sapphire waved the boy off before turning to Cobalt. "Well he was nice."

"Olu."

"Who was nice?"

Sapphire turned to see Hau and Willow walk over. "Oh, well the guy who lost his TM had already gotten a new one, so he told me I could keep it and even gave me a spare TM case!"

"Oh, that was nice of them. So what are you planning on doing now? Going to head back to Hau'oli village for the Grand Trial?"

"Well, I was planning on doing that soon, but I've got a call to make first." Sapphire grinned. "How'd you like to meet Gearface?"

* * *

There was a click as the person on the other side of the video call answered, and a familiar blond and his magnemite were grinning at the screen. "Well well, look who's finally decided to call!"

"Oh hardy har, look, I can't exactly call when I'm in the middle of the wilderness!"

"Do you have a pokédex?"

"Of course, all trainers get a pokédex!"

"And you do know that you can do a whole lot more than just scan a Pokémon with it right?"

"Of course I do- I could have called you while I was out in the wild this whole time couldn't I."

"Pretty much."

"…Shut up."

"Love you too Sapph." Anthony snickered as Sapphire grumbled, while Cobalt bound forward.

"Rio olu!"

"Hey Riolu, how've you been?"

"Riolu rio!"

"Oh yeah, we came up with a nickname actually, it's Cobalt!"

"Well, no one ever said you were creative."

"Alright, coming from the guy who named his electric type 'Bolt.'"

"I know you, and I'm willing to bet when you get an electric type you're going to name him something along the lines of storms. Like Electro or Thundaris, something that sounds like it's from a Final Fantasy game. Hell, maybe even just Storm!"

"Uhh…"

"Oh by the legends, you have an electric type and you named it Storm didn't you."

"You can't prove anything."

"So, show me your pokémon then."

"Uh, well the Pokémon center is kind of cramped, so there's not really enough room…"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Uh, here, meet some friends I made here in Alola!"

"Are you using us as a distraction to prove your friend wrong?" Willow raised an eyebrow.

"No."

"I know him, he totally is." Anthony rolled his eyes. "Anyway, it's very nice to meet you, did Sapph tell you about me?"

"Of course he did Gearface!"

Anthony leveled a glare at Sapphire. "Uh, Hau, his name isn't actually Gearface. That's just a nickname."

"A stupid nickname, yes."

"Well, I like it! Nice to meet you Gearface!"

Anthony ran his hand down his face, groaning. "Only you Sapphire. Only you could muck this up so badly." Anthony turned to Hau. "Please just call me Anthony, Hau, was it?"

"Yep! I'm on my Island Trial with Willow and Sapphire, and I'm aiming to be an even better Kahuna than my Gramps!"

"Uh…"

"They're like Gym Leaders. Or maybe Elite Four? There is only one Kahuna on each of the four islands…"

"Yeah… anyway, from what I've heard you would be Willow then?"

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet one of Sapphire's friends, Anthony."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Anthony grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "I hope you'll help Rio- Cobalt take care of Sapphire, he doesn't have me or his mother there with him on his journey."

"Oy!"

"And stop saying oy, or whatever it is you exclaim. You aren't British, or Australian, or whatever it is you're trying to sound like. You'll just confuse people."

"C'mon mate, I'm eccentric as all get out! Emus and kangaroos!"

"And now he's devolved into this. Well, at least you have a girlfriend to smack some sense into you."

Sapphire froze. "Well, you've grown brave. Would you like to repeat that? I need it on tape so I have an excuse for throttling you."

"What? She is a girl, and she is your friend, wouldn't she be your girlfriend then?"

"You're doing this on purpose."

"Oh!" Hau perked up, as Willow seemingly choked on her spit from the conversation they were having. "Would that mean I'm Sapphire's boyfriend?"

"I will end you, Anthony."

"Yes, have fun trying to figure out how to kill me and not go to jail for murder then." Anthony snickered and waved. "Alright, I have to go now, class in twenty minutes. Oh, Willow, as Sapphire's girlfriend I give you permission to slap him whenever he goes all eccentric on someone."

Willow slowly nodded. "Ah… right, okay…"

"Welp, I'll be seeing you then."

"Yeah. Be seeing you. Oh, and Bolt?" The magnemite buzzed. "You have my permission to zap him." The magnemite buzzed in acknowledgment even as Anthony paled. "Adios!"

He quickly ended the call as Bolt began charging up. "Well, that was fun." Sapphire groaned and scratched the back of his neck. "I'm going to be hearing about that one the next time I call him."

"Well, Anthony seemed nice."

"Yeah, I'd love to meet Gearface in person!" Sapphire groaned even more.

"Yeah, that'll be the day… Anyway, what are you guys going to do now?"

"I'm going to go and attempt the Trial. I believe I've done enough training. If not, I'll just do some more."

"And I'm going to go train! Me and Popplio need to bond more before we try the Trial!"

"Actually, I think I'll go explore around the back half of the island! It'll be like a small training journey before we challenge the Kahuna!"

"I guess that's that then. I'm going to go attempt the trial, I'll see you back at Hau'oli village."

"All right, see you Willow! I'm going to go train, bye Sapph!"

Sapphire waved as Willow walked out and Hau ran out. "So, ready to get going Cobalt?"

"Rio!"

"You're right, let's get some more pokéballs and medicine just in case."

As Sapphire neared Route Three, he saw Captain Ilima and Professor Kukui talking, until they noticed him walk up and waved him over. "Howdy, Cous', Ilima here was just telling me how you cleared his Trial outstandingly!"

"Indeed, it seems young Sapphire will go far as a trainer."

"So, now that you've got your first Z-Crystal, I figured you need to learn how to use 'em!"

"Yeah, that sounds cool. I mean, right now it's just kind of sitting in my bracelet, ring thing, so I'm not sure how to activate it." He held up the hand with the Z-Power Ring, the Normalium Z sitting in its slot.

"Well don't worry, Cous', it's much easier than you'd think it'd be! Similarly to the phenomenon known as Mega Evolution, it depends heavily on the trainer's feelings for their pokémon!"

"What, so I have to focus on how I feel about a pokémon then use the thing?"

"Almost! Then, you must strike a pose that channels the Z-Power from the crystal, through you, into your pokémon!"

"Wait, strike a pose?"

"Indeed. Every type of Z-Crystal has a different pose that you must do to call out their power."

"So, I'm not that good at dancing, or even remembering poses, so…"

"Ha, don't worry, Cous! Whenever you use a Z-Crystal you'll instinctively know what to do, even if you've never seen the pose!"

"Right… sure, I'll believe you, why not."

"Ha, anyway, healing all that power and your feelings onto a Pokémon can be very tiring and draining, for both you and the Pokémon, which is why most battles involving Z-Crystals usually only involve one Z-Power attack. You can do more of course, but considering how after three or four you can begin to strain yourself, most legal battles limit a trainer to just one Z-Power attack. Just as legal battles only allow one Mega Evolution."

"Makes sense. You wouldn't want people to hurt themselves, and using more than one Mega or Z-Power would become kind of unbalanced."

"Exactly, young Sapphire. Anyway, as I'm sure you know, I'm the only Trial Captain on the island, so you can challenge Hala whenever you feel ready."

"Yep, I'm actually planning on exploring the back half of the island as I get ready to challenge him, like Route Three and stuff."

"Ah, Sapphire, that reminds me, me and Lillie were going around Route Three when she up and disappeared like she used Shadow Sneak!"

"What? We should go find her then, why are we hanging around here?"

"Well, I was planning on asking Ilima to help, but then saw you and got side tracked," Kukui chuckled embarrassedly.

Ilima chuckled, "Well, I'll certainly help look around for her, good luck to the both of you."

Sapphire sighed. "Right. let's go!" Sapphire began jogging ahead, opening Rotom's pocket. "Rotom, can you show me a map of Route Three?"

"Zzt, Roger roger!" Rotom flew out in front of him and clicked his screen to the map, showing an in-depth look of Route Three. "Route Three is mostly small pathwayzz along the cliff side, so there aren't many placezz that she could have gotten lost."

"Olu riolu?"

"Cobalt that's gruesome. Rotom, any side areas she might have stopped to rest at? Small plateau areas? I think those are flat areas on cliffs, right?"

"Essentially. But no, there are small plateauzz, but the professor would have seen her if she stopped on any of those. There is, however, Melemele Meadow, a small, well, meadow that goezz into the mountain."

"Alright, let's check there." Sapphire followed Rotom's map, jogging down the path, watching as it went from nature covered, to dusty paths and rocks. It actually took a little more than an hour for the changes to take place, and it felt hotter as he climbed the slightly sloped path, although that was probably just his imagination. After all, there wasn't much shade even back by the Trial location, but here the dusty look made it feel more dry and barren.

There was still vegetation, of course, bushes and small trees here and there, but nowhere near as much as the southern and south-western part of the island. Although it looked like there was slightly more and more vegetation, as he neared an opening into the mountain, with cool air blowing from inside. A small sign by the entrance had 'Melemele Meadow' printed on it, confirming Sapphire' suspicions.

"Come on. Let's get out of this sun. Hopefully, Lillie's inside." Sapphire entered, flipping his sunglasses up as he went. It was much darker inside the meadow after all, but not pitch black.

Just as the Trial location, streams of sunlight poured in from cracks in the mountain, illuminating the bright yellow flowers that spread throughout the meadow. Vines crept up the walls, with more yellow flowers in them, giving the cavern a bright feel. There were some people inside, lying in the flowers or just relaxing, some of them probably couples on dates.

Lillie herself was a much brighter spot in the cavern, wearing only white, with her bright blonde hair. "Nebby! Nebbles! Come back over here!" Lillie was looking through the flowers, a nervous look on her face.

"Lillie!"

"Oh!" Lillie turned and brightened slightly when she saw Sapphire. "Sapphire, Nebby and Nebbles, they… they got out of my bag, and now they're all the way over there!" Sapphire looked towards where she was pointing and spotted the two Pokémon near a small entrance in the rock. "I'm worried that they'll get hurt by a wild pokémon, but I can't go after them because… because I'm afraid I'll get attacked too…"

Sapphire sighed and combed his hair back. "That's fine, you don't really train pokémon, so it's okay to be afraid of wild pokémon. How about you go back outside and wait for the professor, and I'll have Rotom message him to come to get you. We've been looking for you."

"Ah… but… I can't leave them…"

"Alright, look how about I carry you over there and then we'll see where they're going." Lillie nodded at that and Sapphire kneeled down, letting Lillie climb onto his shoulders while Cobalt climbed down into his bag. He slowly stood back up, almost losing his balance, before regaining it. "Not saying you're heavy, but having someone a bit less than my own weight on my shoulders makes it kind of hard to balance."

"S-sorry."

"No, it's alright." Sapphire slowly started walking forward, brushing past yellow flowers and trying not to get caught on anything. Cobalt leaned down to dislodge a flower that was caught on his bag, and wave away several cutiefly.

One of the people in the back of the cavern noticed them and waved, laughing. "Have fun on your date kiddos!"

Sapphire blushed and Lillie pulled her hat down in embarrassment, squeezing her legs around Sapphire's neck. Sapphire began choking, tapping her quickly on the leg. "Gah, Lillie, windpipe!"

"S-sorry!"

Sapphire coughed, rubbing his neck. "It's no problem. I guess a lot of couples come here for dates, it is kinda beautiful. Even though I'm not really one for flowers."

"Olu riolu."

"Shut up Cobalt."

"What did he say?"

"Ah, well, just that I should take Willow here sometime…"

"That could be nice, we should all relax here after we find my pokémon, or when you're all done with Mele Mele's Trials. It could be a nice spot to relax as friends before we head to the next island."

"Yeah." Sapphire turned towards Cobalt with a death glare. "AS FRIENDS." Cobalt rolled his eyes and leaned back in the bag. Sapphire neared the hole in the wall and knelt down so Lillie could get off his shoulders. "Looks like we'll have to crawl through, the hole's too small."

"R-right."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of any wild pokémon if they try to attack." Sapphire got down on all fours and crawled into the hole, shuffling for a few feet until he reached an exit. Sapphire stood up and looked around, seeing that he was now inside of a dark and damp cave.

Lillie crawled out next and brushed off her clothes. "Where are we?"

"No idea, but it's kind of damp, so maybe near an underwater lake or something?" They began walking further into the cave looking around. The fluttering of wings high overhead caused them to look up, and spot several dark forms flitting back and forth in the shadows.

Lillie stepped closer to him and clung onto his arm, looking nervously up at the shadows. Sapphire rubbed the back of his neck with his other hand, embarrassed. "Hey, you know it's very unlikely that those pokémon will actively come down and attack us unprovoked."

Of course, right after saying this, one of the forms shot down and slammed into his face. Lillie covered her mouth with her hands, worried about him. "Sapphire!"

Sapphire quickly threw the pokémon off, rubbing his face in annoyance. "Alright, why is it always the face?!" Cobalt quickly jumped out of his bag, settling into a battle position.

The pokémon that was fluttering opposite him was a bat pokémon, that had a mainly dark pink and purple body, with black tufts of fur and large yellow eyes. Large ears twitched at every noise in the cavern, as it glared at them and hissed with a tiny mouth, sharp fangs glistening.

"Rotom?"

"Zzt. Noibat, the 'Sound Wave Pokémon.' Living in pitch black cavezz, they use night vision and echolocation to navigate through their homezz, and their enormouzz earzz can emit ultrasonic wavezz of 200,000 hertz."

"Is… is that a lot?"

"Yezz. It is a flying and dragon type pokémon."

"Alright then, Cobalt, start off with Blaze Kick!" Cobalt yipped and jumped forwards launching a Blaze Kick at the tiny bat. Noibat flew back narrowly avoiding the flames, and blasting a gust of wind at the jackal.

Cobalt grunted as the Gust hit him directly in the chest and was launched back, before he twisted in mid-air and landed on his feet. He then used Quick Attack to speed around the Noibat, launching himself up and using Bite on her wing.

Noibat screeched, and falling to the ground as she couldn't flap her wing, and used Supersonic to confuse Cobalt. Cobalt groaned and and shook his head, letting go of Noibat's wing to try and keep his balance. Noibat tried lifting off the ground again, but her wing was too injured to get her off the ground.

Instead, she used Absorb, healing herself through Cobalt. "Cobalt!" Cobalt perked up as he heard Sapphire's voice. "Feel where the attack is coming from, then use Force Palm, but power it down, so instead of a spike of Aura coming from your palm, it's a wave!"

Cobalt nodded, and though still disoriented, turned towards where he felt the attack coming from to attempt to use an unfocused Force Palm. The aura poured from his paw, and while it did hit Noibat as it was now more of an area of effect attack, it wasn't as powerful as his actual Force Palm.

Noibat staggered back, her small legs not used to having to hold her up while standing, and fell. As she scrabbles on the ground, Cobalt shook off his confusion and finished her off with a quick Bullet Punch.

As she lay knocked out on the floor, Sapphire made a split second decision and grabbed an empty pokéball, throwing it. The red and white sphere bounced off Noibat's head, before sucking her inside. The ball wobbled a moment, before it clicked, signifying capture.

"Alright! We caught a Noibat!"

"Olu!"

Lillie clapped, smiling. "Nicely done Sapphire! O-or, I assume it was pretty good…"

"Eh, I'd say it was alright." Sapphire grinned and picked up the sphere, clipping it to his belt. "I think the fights with the Totem and Haunter raised our expectations for wild pokémon a bit."

Sapphire let Cobalt climb up him and grinned at Lillie. "Anyway, we were looking for your pokémon." They continued walking through the cave, careful not to antagonize any more pokémon, or fate.

Before they got deep enough to wonder if they had missed a turn in the cave, and had perhaps passed Nebby and Nebbles, the two violet pokémon flew up to them from out of the dark, impacting with their chests. "Oh! There you two were! I was worried sick!"

"Pew!" Sapphire chuckled and pat Nebbles on the head. Or was it Nebby?

"Hah, hah, running around like that sure is tiring!" They looked up from the two pokémon in their arms, and saw two… oddly dressed individuals.

One was a girl, certainly shorter than him by a bit less than half a foot, but Sapphire wasn't sure if she was a teenager, or older. She had red braided hair framing the right side of her face. The other was a guy, and was the exact opposite of his companion, being a full foot taller than his own five foot and 7-inch height. But even then, Sapphire couldn't tell if he was a tall teenager, or adult.

The outfits they both wore were extremely odd, looking very similar to armor. The outfits were mostly white, with deep purple highlights. They looked high-tech, especially the helmets and visors they wore. There were small slits for the man's eyes, with one long slit for the girl's eyes, and both helmets had openings for their mouths.

The girl looked up from where she was hunched over, breathing. When she saw two people holding pokémon she jumped up and waved. "Oh, hi! So the people of Alola meet in places like this, huh? I'm Zossie! This is Dulse! We're part of the Ultra Recon Squad!"

"Uh, hey there." Sapphire waved. "What's an Ultra Recon Squad?" he then muttered to himself.

"Calm yourself Zossie," the guy, Dulse apparently, said. "We are not to socialize with Alolans, but to find someone strong enough to protect the Blinding One."

"Now that sounds interesting!" Sapphire grinned and stood up. "I'm Sapphire, nice to meet you! So, who's the Blinding One? Because I can totally hear the capitals in those words."

Dulse observed him for a moment. "The Blinding One is a powerful and dangerous pokémon, and we require a strong trainer to protect and stop people from interacting with it. Are you strong?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that trainers are strong, it's really that their pokémon are strong, and they just train them. But, yeah, I'd say I'm a pretty good trainer!"

"Then let us see if you are a worthy one!" Dulse took a pokéball from his belt and tossed it forward, releasing a Furfrou.

"Duuulse, you can't just challenge somebody without asking them!" Zossie stamped her foot and huffed.

"Hey, it's alright! I'm always up for a battle!" Sapphire thought for a moment, before grabbing a pokéball and tossing it forward. "Alright Claws, let's do this!" Claws popped out of his pokéball and landed softly, observing the Furfrou disdainfully. "Claws, what have we discussed?" Claws rolled his eyes and changed his look to barely hidden disdain.

"Furfrou, begin with a Headbutt." Furfrou charged forward and and attempted to attack Claws, who simply ducked underneath Furfrou, rolling under his taller body. Claws then leaped up and hit on his tail, making him yelp and and spin in circles, trying to get him off.

"Furfrou, Tail Whip!"Furfrou began whipping his tail back and forth, throwing Claws into the air. As he flew back, he spun in midair and took a breath, before breathing out an Ember attack. Furfrou barked as his fur began burning, and Claws charged in and used Fake Out charging forward before immediately jumping as Furfrou flinched back, coming down from above and using Fire Fang.

"Is this what a battle between pokémon trainers is like?" Lillie watched on as Claws darted back and forth between the Furfrou's legs, before using Heat Wave to launch it up.

"Yep. I guess that Festival didn't really give you an accurate representation of what battles are like, with us shouting attacks back and forth."

"But… aren't trainers supposed to yell attacks for their pokémon?"

"Well, yes, but you have to remember, all pokémon have some kind of fighting instinct, no matter how pacifistic they are. They know how to battle on their own, so you don't really want to distract them by shouting out commands all the time. Claws, he's using headbutt on the way down, back up!" Claws subsequently did so, backing up and dodging the attack, letting Furfrou slam into the ground head first.

"But didn't you just give Claws a command?"

"Yes, but I was getting to that. I may not have paid much attention to the small stuff in trainer's school back in Kanto, which is why I didn't know really basic moves and stuff, I did watch a lot of professional matches, especially stuff with my dad. Really experienced trainers let their pokémon battle without distracting them and watch the battlefield for traps, or think up plans to either foil the enemy or their plan.

Claws jumped on Furfrou's back and began using scratch. "When the opposing pokémon is about to use an attack that your pokémon won't see coming, or you finally figure out their plan, you usually want to give out the right orders so your pokémon can dodge or counter them. Or if you come up with your own plan, begin giving your pokémon their orders. The reason why me, Willow, and Hau, were shouting commands so much…"

"Willow, Hau, and I," Lillie corrected. Sapphire gave her a flat look and she blushed. "Sorry."

"Nah, it was more amusing than anything. Anyway, we were shouting commands so much because there were two opponents, for each of us. While our pokémon focused on one, we had to watch the other and plan accordingly. Or at least I did, I'm not sure if Willow and Hau watched enough professional pokémon battles to pick up on that."

"Yes, I don't think Hau was thinking much about strategy, besides having Pichu charge up a lot, and the water shield they made for Perish Song. Other than those, they were just blasting attacks at you."

"Yep. Which is fine, I get the feeling that even though he wants to be Kahuna someday, right now he prefers the fun aspect of the journey. The strategy and training part of it isn't for him, right now."

"Oh, but didn't you forget that Hau was in the battle at one point?"

"Er, yes, but come on, it was my first trainer battle, I wouldn't have really known how to do the whole thing perfectly!"

Back in the battle, Claws leaped off Furfrou and ignited his fur, spinning into a ball and slamming back down towards Furfrou. Furfrou couldn't make it out of the way in time, and was quickly knocked unconscious by the impact. Claws got back up, shaking his head. That attack did some damage to him to, but since that was the only damage he took the whole battle, he was fine.

"Nice job, Claws! Return!" Claws let himself get sucked back into his pokéball, and Sapphire tossed it up and caught it, placing it on his belt. "Well, that was a fun battle."

"I… see. So that is a pokémon battle."

"Uh, yeah. What, have you never saw or been in a pokémon battle?"

"No. We have tried to investigate what it is like to battle with pokémon, but it is quite different when you do it yourself. At least it seems the pokéball we tried to create has worked properly in catching a pokémon from Alola."

"Wait, back up," Zossie smiled and took a step back, causing Sapphire to give her a confused glance. "You created that pokéball?"

Dulse continued talking, ignoring his question. "Now I have seen how strong you are, young Alola trainer."

"Still haven't answered my question. And I'm not Alolan, I'm from Kanto."

"So Dulse, what're we gonna do?" Sapphire sighed as he was continuously ignored.

"Hm." Dulse turned to look at them, or more specifically, Nebby and Nebbles. "Trainer, you should know these ones here warp away if threatened in any way… and the holes that are torn open as a result invite dangerous beings into this world."

"What?"

"But perhaps things will be alright as long as trainers like you are in Alola. And you," He turned towards Lillie. "You have nothing to do with our investigation, nor your pokémon, so long as you or anyone else are not foolish enough to open a hole that could lead from Alola to Megalo Tower. Now, let us carry on, Zossie."

They quickly did the Alolan gesture of making a circular motion with their arms, although it was more of a square with how jerkily they moved their arms. As they walked away, Sapphire's brain recovered from the confusion that had set in. "Wait, Megalo Tower? What dangerous beings!? Are Nebby and Nebbles like doomsday prophets or something!? Are you going to explain any-and they're gone."

"Oh, Sapphire, let me heal your pokémon, as thanks for helping me." Lillie began getting medicine out of her bag, and Sapphire released Cobalt and Claws. Since both only had light injuries, It only took a single spray of a potion for each for them to feel better, after which Sapphire returned Claws.

"Come on up, bud." Sapphire let Cobalt up onto his shoulder, before looking further into the cave. "So, we saw that this cave was super damp earlier, want to see where this cave leads out to? Like maybe a secret lake or something?"

Lillie smiled and nodded. "Alright, it could be fun to explore. Oh, just remember to message he Professor that you found me!"

"Right, good thinking. Rotom, do you mind sending a message to the Professor?"

"Not at all! I'll get right on it!"

"Thanks! Come on Lillie, let's see where this leads!" They began exploring, going deeper into the cave. Further onwards, they found small pools of crystal water, with small water pokémon swimming lazily through small holes in the rocks. Sapphire laughed and jumped down a short ledge, motioning for Lillie to follow. After a moment of hesitation, she jumped down after him, holding her dress down and laughing.

They ran through the cavern until they spotted light ahead, and found an exit onto a small beachfront. Sapphire and Lillie looked around in wonder at the secluded beach, and Cobalt jumped down from Sapphire's shoulder, with Nebbles and Nebby following him as he ran out towards the water. "This place is beautiful!" Lillie smiled and knelt down, picking up a seashell from the sand.

"I wonder how many people know about this place?"

Lillie smiled and placed the seashell back down. "Considering how that hole in the wall was rather small, and hidden behind those large flowers, plus the fact that you have to wander through a dark cave, not many people."

"Oh my god, just had the best idea in the history of best ideas." Cobalt rolled his eyes at Lillie's pokemon.

"What?"

"Celebratory You-Just-Beat-Your-First-Trial beach party!"

"That's… a mouthful."

"And genius!"


	9. Chapter 9: Beach Shenanigans

**Happy Valentine's Day! So. Beach episode. If this were an anime you all know what that would mean. But hey, this is T-rated just in case, you ain't getting any of that!**

 **Chapter Nine: Beach Shenanigans**

* * *

"Cannonball!"

"Wait for me!" Sapphire laughed and ran after Hau, jumping off a rock and doing a cannonball into the water. He resurfaced and spat out some water, wiping his eyes. "Gah, salt water in my eyes!"

Hau laughed and moved his wet hair out of his eyes. "It's super effective!"

"Oh screw you!" Sapphire splashed him, leading to the ultimate splash war of all time. Willow made sure to stay clear by relaxing in the shallows with her pokémon, while Lillie stayed with their pokémon and bags on the beach.

Next to her, Sapphire had set up a tent so that Noibat would have a slightly shaded dark space to hide in for her sensitive eyes, while she talked with his team. " _S-so, I'm a part of your team then?"_

" _Well, if you don't want to be then no."_ Cobalt sat cross-legged across from Noibat, leaning back on his paws, the rest of the team spread out in a semicircle facing Noibat, who hung from the ceiling of the tent. Well, Haunter floated a bit further back than the others, Noibat obviously slightly frightened of his ghostly form. " _After all, you just have to say that you wouldn't be comfortable as a trainer's pokémon, and Sapphire would release you. Heck, most of us were captured willingly, Me, Claws, Chrysant. As for Storm and Haunter, they were captured in battle, but came along afterward."_

" _...Sapphire feeds me, gives me water, and lets me sleep a lot. I like him."_ Storm opened an eye as he talked, saying about twelve more words at a time than he usually would, before settling back down to sleep on the warm sand.

" _Sapphire is pretty cool towards me."_ Haunter made sure to speak softer than usual and not cackle as much, so as to not accidentally scare the young bat pokémon. " _Even after I pulled a… mean spirited prank,"_ Cobalt groaned as Haunter smirked at his own pun, " _he still welcomed me aboard. Even gave me the chance for a second battle with him, although I would have stayed anyway if I lost."_

" _So h-he's nice then?"_

" _Of course he is!"_ Chrysant looked slightly insulted at the idea of Sapphire not being nice, but Claws stopped her from yelling by placing a paw on her side.

" _Chrysant, I'm sure she didn't mean to insult him. Or you."_ He turned towards the upside down pokémon and flicked his tail. " _But yes. Sapphire is very kind towards us, and If you'd like, you could talk with him now, and have Rotom translate it."_

" _I… Alright. T-that sounds like a good idea…"_

" _Alright, I'll go get him."_ Cobalt got up and exited the tent, letting in slight light, before the flap closed. Awkwardness settled over most of the pokémon in the tent, the only ones immune to it being Storm who was asleep and Chrysant who just didn't sense the awkwardness.

" _Soooo…"_ Haunter scratched the side of his face. Body? " _You like puns?"_ Claws groaned and buried his head in the sand to avoid the incoming puns while Chrysant laughed.

Luckily, before Claws would have to find some way to murder a ghost, Sapphire and Cobalt entered the tent before the puns began. Sapphire shook out the water from his brown locks and grimaced as he got wet sand inside his tent. "Yeah, gonna have to wash that out later. Hate getting sand in my stuff."

" _I mean, sand's annoying, but it's not that bad."_

"You kidding? I hate sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

" _Tha-that's a damn reference to something isn't it?"_

Sapphire snorted and smirked. "Psh, I'll never tell." Sapphire turned to the bat and smiled, sitting down. "So, you wanted to talk?"

" _Y-yes. That is if you don't mind…"_

"Er, hold on a sec. I can kind of understand Cobalt from knowing him for a while, but even then there's a lot of assuming done on my part." He reached for his bag and fished out his pokédex, tapping the screen to wake up Rotom. "Hey, buzz boy, wake up. Actually, are you a boy or a girl? I can't really tell."

"Zzt. Rotom are genderlezz, so don't worry, I don't care either way!" Rotom buzzed and flew around Sapphire's body, before settling on his shoulder. "So, need me to be a translator? Good thing I speak human when in my dex!"

"You said it. Alright, so, you wanted to talk?"

" _Yes. Um, I'm not really sure where to start though…"_

Sapphire waited for Rotom to translate before he nodded. "Alright, then how about we start with your opinion on battling?"

" _My opinion on battling?"_

"Yeah, do you like to battle other pokémon, or are you more pacifistic? I mean, I assume you do, Considering how you flew down and slammed into me before we battled the first time." Sapphire chuckled.

" _O-oh, yeah, sorry about that. I was half-asleep, and I heard movement below me so I got curious, then I accidentally bumped into you, and we started battling-"_

"Hey, if it was an accident it's alright. But that doesn't answer my question."

Noibat was silent a moment. " _Well… I don't think I mind battling either way… but… I want to at least be strong enough to defend myself."_

Sapphire smiled and held a hand forward, causing Noibat to flinch back. He held his hand up to show he meant no harm, and slowly held it forward again. When Noibat slowly relaxed, he reached forward and scratched her behind one of her ears.

"Well, I can certainly help you with that, if you'd like." He leaned back and smiled. "I help my pokémon, and they help me. Cobalt and Claws come along with me because Cobalt is my best pokémon friend, and Claws was my first 'catch.' Storm… well, he battles for me, and I take care of him. Chrysant wanted to see the world beyond the ranch, and also bonded with me, and I'm not sure why Haunter comes along, but if I had to guess, it's either to pull pranks on more people, or fight stronger pokémon."

" _Yep!"_ Haunter laughed.

"So, if you'd like, you can come along with me and I'll train you! You'd also see a lot more of the world, rather than just staying in a cave your whole life."

" _Well… that does sound nice I suppose…"_

"Alright, how 'bout this?" Sapphire grinned and held up a finger. "We'll be on Mele Mele island for a few more days, at least, because we still need to travel around to the other side of the island, then have a big battle, which we'll need to train for. If you don't want to stay by the time that is all over and done with, I'll take you back to your cave and release you, sound fair?"

Noibat thought about it for a moment, before nodding.

"Great! In the meantime, do you want a nickname?"

" _Nickname?"_

"I give all my pokémon nicknames!"

" _I don't have a nickname."_

"Oh yeah, that's right… Alright, guess I'm coming up with two nicknames now!" Sapphire sat back and hummed. "Anybody have some suggestions?"

" _Batgirl?"_

"That's just tasteless."

" _I want something spooky… something that could scare people when they hear it…"_

"Spooks?"

"… _I like it!"_

" _You've got to be kidding me. How is that scary?"_

" _What, hearing Spooks doesn't instill your heart with fear?"_

" _I'll certainly be scared for my ears since I'll be hearing a bunch of puns soon after."_

" _Well, now you'll be gEARed for the future!"_

" _I hate you."_

"Now, something for Noibat…" Sapphire thought for a moment, before snapping. "Maybe something to do with sound? After all, bat, that whole 200 hurts thing,"

"Zzt, Hertz."

"That's what I said. Hurts. So, anyone have an idea for something to do with sound?"

" _Wave? Like sound waves?"_

"Mm…nah sounds too much like a water type thing."

" _Blast?"_

"Hey, that sounds cool! How 'bout it Noibat? What do you think?"

" _I- I guess Blast is fine…"_

"Well, if you don't like it just speak up, it's your nickname, after all, you should be happy with it!" Sapphire got up and grinned. "Now, who wants to join in on the beach party?"

" _I don't think I will, after all, fire types and water don't usually get along…"_

"Nah, you'll have a great time!" Sapphire picked up Claws and ran out of the tent, Claws yowling the whole way. Chrysant and Cobalt followed laughing, while Storm, Blast, and Spooks stayed inside the tent.

The newly christened Spooks looked at Blast. " _Why don't you go out and join them?"_

Blast shifted nervously from her upside-down perch. " _I-it's a bit bright out there for me… I've never really been out of my cave ever…"_

Spooks nodded, acknowledging her point. " _Well, if you want to explore the world, you're going to have to see the sunlight eventually. Can't spend all day in the shadows, that'd just be batty."_

" _That… um… was that a joke?"_

Spooks sighed. " _It seems I must teach you the beautiful art of punning then. After our day in the sun, our journey of a thousand words shall begin."_

" _What about Storm?"_

" _Oh him? Yeah, he would just keep sleeping outside, don't worry about it."_

* * *

Willow smiled as she relaxed in the shallows of the beach, her pokémon relaxing around her. Cream and Rowlet were sitting in the water with her, while her newest pokémon, Slowbro, and Grimer, relaxed on the sand behind her.

It was lucky that she even decided to pack her bathing suit when she was packing to leave for her island challenge, as she hadn't expected to take a break to go swimming, or even really take breaks at all. She was planning on just training for most of the time she had stopped to rest from traveling, so she had been rather surprised when she got a message from Sapphire's Rotom to meet them at Mele Mele Meadow.

She reached the meadow at the same time as Hau had, and followed Sapphire through the cave, and then onto the hidden beach. When they reached it, Hau had immediately thrown his backpack, shirt, and sneakers off, and jumped into the water. Since he wore swimming trunks for regular shorts, Willow just presumed that he regularly jumped into the ocean.

Sapphire let her use his tent to change into her bathing suit, while he changed inside the cave. After she changed she had released all her pokémon to enjoy themselves as well, although she made sure to tell Grimer not to get in the water, or his goo might disperse.

Afterward, she just relaxed, although for some reason she watched for Sapphire as she exited the cave, and felt her heart beat slightly faster when he looked over at her and blushed. He smiled and waved, before going over to join Hau. She closed her eyes and leaned back, feeling the small waves and tried to slow her heart.

Maybe when she was back in the city she should get a new bathing suit? Perhaps she could ask Sapphire to help her look for one.

Damnit, there went her heart again.

A couple of minutes later, there was a loud splash and she looked over to see Sapphire jumping into the water while holding onto a yelling Claws. Cobalt and Chrysant quickly followed, throwing water around.

Claws managed to escape Sapphire's grasp and climb up his body, before leaping back to the shore. He hissed, before grumbling and setting his fur on fire to dry off. Sapphire laughed and splashed water towards him, before swimming out into the deeper water. As he began floating in the deeper area next to Hau, he turned and grinned towards her, waving her over. "Hey Willow, come join us!"

"Oh! Uh, alright, if you wish." She got up and waded into the water, before swimming out to meet them. "So, what do you plan to do?"

"What do you want to do? Come on, we just beat our first trial, and now we're all hanging out at the beach! What's something you'd like to do with friends at the beach?"

"Well, I never spent much time with friends at the beach… Training?"

Sapphire gave her a blank look. "As much as I like training, that's not exactly a 'recreational' activity you'd do at the beach. Maybe later, though."

"Um… Perhaps volleyball? That's something you do with people at the beach, correct?"

"Alright, sounds good to me! Hey Lillie!" Lillie looked up at Hau's shout. Mind getting the beach ball out of my bag?"

"Alright!" Lillie grabbed Hau's bag and began going through it while they floated in the water.

"It's a good thing you told me to get a beach ball before heading to the meadow!"

Sapphire laughed at Hau's words. "Yeah, and it's definitely a good thing pokémarts stock freaking everything! Oh, how much do I owe you?"

"Ah, don't worry about it! It was super cheap! And they really do, I've seen some weird stuff in pokémarts!"

When Lillie threw the ball over, Sapphire caught it, accidentally splashing water on Hau and Willow in the process. "Sorry! Hey Lillie, you sure you don't want to join us in the water?"

"No, It's fine! I don't really have a swimsuit anyway…"

"Alright, fair enough. But that means we only have three people for volleyball… Hey guys, anyone up for volleyball?" Cobalt perked up and vaulted over claws, before performing a dive into the water. He quickly swam over and leaped from the water, did a flip, and landed on Sapphire's head. "...You know, you could have just said yes and swam over like a normal person."

Cobalt waved a hand dismissively. "Olu riolu."

"No, it ain't 'semantics', you just like showing off." Sapphire laughed and splashed water upwards at him. "Anyway, I guess it'll be me and Cobalt against Hau and Willow?"

"Actually, why not Sapphire and I, against Hau and Cobalt? After all, Sapphire and Cobalt would work together very well against Hau and me."

"Ha, good point! Alright, hop on over towards Hau, looks like it'll be me against you!" Cobalt yipped and jumped towards Hau, landing on his head. He laughed and lifted a hand up for Cobalt to high five.

"Looks like Cobalt's my pokémon now!"

"Good riddance, he's super annoying." Sapphire blew a raspberry at him, laughing as he splashed water at him. Sapphire backstroked away, swimming next to Willow. "So, ready for the ultimate team up?"

Willow smiled and nodded, swimming back with Sapphire to make room between them and Hau and Cobalt. "So," Hau called, "The first team to five?"

"Sounds good to me! Have at thee!"

* * *

Lillie watched as the three trainers plus Cobalt began playing volleyball in the water, and looked over to see Sapphire's new Noibat, along with his Haunter and Rotom, fly and float over respectively. The Noibat looked more nervous than the other two and was constantly shielding her eyes with her wings.

"Hello, decided to come out of the tent then?" The Noibat looked at her, before nodding shyly. Lillie thought for a moment, before reaching up and taking off her hat. Is the light bothering you? Here, you can use my hat to give yourself some shade and get used to it!"

Noibat looked at her, before slowly leaning over so that she could place the hat on her head. After she did, Noibat blinked a few times, before letting out a happy trill. Rotom flew around her head, buzzing. "Zzt, that'zz a good idea, I'll tell Sapphire to buy a special hat when we are back in Hau'oli! Oh, and Sapphire named her Blast, and Haunter is named Spooks, zzt!"

"That name doesn't seem to fit with such a cute little pokémon!" Lillie giggled and rubbed Blast's head through her hat.

"Well, Noibat'zz and Noivern'zz do gain pretty powerful sound based attackzz."

"Haunt haunt!" Spooks cackled and floated around her, turning upside down.

Lillie smiles, albeit slightly hesitantly, at the ghost type. "Uh, What was he saying?"

"Zzt. Trust me you don't want to know."

"Uh…"

"It wazz a pun." Spooks cackled some more.

"Does he usually make puns?"

"Zzt, well I haven't known him for very long… but it seemzz likely, unfortunately."

"I see." Lillie looked over to see Blast playing with Nebby and Nebbles. She smiled as they began playing tag, Blast slightly hesitant at first, then more energetically. When they began playing farther down the beach and began to play out of her sight, she called after them. "Guys?"

They didn't respond, so she huffed and stood up, smacking the sand off her dress. "Well, looks like I have to go make sure they don't get into trouble again."

Rotom buzzed and flew around her "Let uzz come with! I could use some time outside of Sapphire'zz bag…"

Lillie giggled as they began moving towards where they last saw Blast, Nebby, and Nebbles. "It's not like Sapphire forces you to stay in his bag. Why not fly around more?"

"It'zz cozy…" Spooks laughed at his words.

"Well, now you'll get some air." Lillie smiled, although it fell slightly as they turned the corner around the rock face, and didn't see the pokémon anywhere. "Rotom, do you have a tracking device or something like that in your pokédex?"

"Zzt, activating pokéfinder!" Rotom flew up in the air and began scanning. "...No visual contact!"

"Yes, thank you, Rotom." Lillie sighed. "Well, what now?"

"There seemzz to be another opening in the rock up ahead!"

"Oh. Thank you, Rotom." Lillie began walking towards the opening in the rocks that Rotom pointed out. This opening didn't lead into another cave, but instead through a small rocky passage that sloped downwards. In the end, it opened up to reveal a sloped path and a waterfall that fell into an inlet that lead to the sea.

What caught her attention, however, was the multiple members of Team Skull that were using nets to capture dozens of water pokémon. Lillie held her hands up to her mouth at the sight and then saw her pokémon along with Sapphire's being manhandled by a few grunts. "Oh no!" She began rushing down the slope, Rotom waving his arm after her.

"Lillie, wait!" She didn't, and thusly paid for it when a Grunt that she didn't see came up behind her and knocked her out.

"Lillie!" Rotom tried to fly after her and the grunt, who miraculously hadn't seen the two ghosts who were still in the rocky passage, but Spooks stopped him. "We have to help her Spooks!"

Spooks shook his head, holding him back. "Haunt haunt."

"Zzt, you're right, I'll get the others, you keep watching and stop them if they try to hurt any of them!" Rotom turned and flew back towards his trainer, while Spooks turned back to Team Skull and phased through the ground.

* * *

Cobalt jumped off of Hau's head, flipped through the air, and kicked the ball directly at Sapphire. Sapphire watched it close in with extreme speed, and widened his eyes. "Oh sh-" He let out a grunt as the ball slammed into his face, and bounced into the air. "Yeah, I guess I just forgot that thing is plastic…"

Willow splashed to the side and managed to hit the ball back to Sapphire before it landed in the water. "Sapphire, quickly!"

Sapphire tracked the ball and positioned himself to intercept it. "Beware Cobalt, for you shall now feel the power… of the RASENGAN!"

"Olu?" Cobalt raised an eyebrow at Sapphire's yell and watched as he jumped from the water, before slamming the side of his hand into the ball to give it a bit of a spin. It flew through the air and spun towards his side. It was easily within range, but Cobalt had a devious plan. He 'attempted' to hit the ball back, but 'missed'.

When Sapphire and Willow saw that they had scored the final point in the game, Sapphire cheered, quickly followed by Willow. Over the course of the game, Willow became more expressive, until she was laughing and expressing herself as much as Hau and Sapphire were. Sapphire grabbed her and hugged her, lifting her up. "We are victorious Willow! Team Blue Bark for the win!"

Cobalt sniggered as Willow blushed, her entire head practically beet red. Mission accomplished. Of course, it only took a few seconds for Sapphire to realize what he was doing, before he abruptly dropped Willow, blushing. "Ah, yeah. Good job." He cleared his throat and looked everywhere except Willow.

"Nice job guys, I can't believe the awesome team of me and Cobalt lost!" Cobalt nodded along with Hau, snickering. "So, up for another game?"

"I… would be up for another game if you are Sapphire." Sapphire began stammering as Willow looked at him, fighting down her blush to smile at him, but before he could answer, Rotom flew up and slammed into his face.

"You know what, I actually couldn't feel that. I think I'm getting too used to pokémon slamming into my face. What's up Rotom?"

"Zzt, Team Skull!"

Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Alright, that's serious, but not so serious that we should panic. They're just thugs that prey on weaker trainers."

"And they have Blast, Lillie, Nebby, and Nebbles!"

What?!" Sapphire splashed towards the shore and dove into his tent. He started putting on his clothes but decided it would take to long and just grabbed his trainer belt and tightened it around his waist, plus his bag and sneakers.

He exited his tent and saw that Hau and Willow had done the same thing as him, grabbing their bags and shoes. He quickly returned all his pokémon except Cobalt as Hau and Willow had done. "Rotom, where are they?"

"Zzt, thizz way!" Rotom began hovering away, the trainers running after him. They quickly reached the rocky crevice and began filing through it. When they exited on the other side, Willow gasped at the sight of pokémon being captured in nets, while Sapphire narrowed his eyes when he spotted Lillie and their pokémon being held by a bunch of grunts.

"Alright, plan." He pointed towards Lillie, who was surrounded by less grunts than the nets. "I have the most pokémon, so I can handle a couple of grunts on my own. Willow, Hau, you go and free those water types from their nets!"

"A sound plan," Willow nodded.

"Sounds good to me!" Hau grinned.

Sapphire stood there for a moment, awkwardly. "…So, do we yell go, or-"

"Go!" Hau charged down the hill while calling out Popplio and Pichu, causing Sapphire and Willow to look at each other and shrug. Willow quickly followed Hau as she released Cream and Rowlet.

Sapphire did so as well, sprinting forward towards where Lillie and the pokémon were, as Cobalt bounded forward and he released Storm. Lillie quickly spotted them approaching, and her eyes widened. "Sapphire!"

The grunts guarding her turned to see them approaching. "Yo! Looks li-"

"No rapping! Spark!" Storm grumbled something, before blasting forwards covered in electrical energy and slamming into the grunt's stomach.

The other grunt quickly sent out a zubat, before Cobalt put an end to that by jumping into the air and bringing his foot down in its head to knock it out. He turned to raise a flaming leg at the grunt, who raised his arms in surrender.

A third grunt began sending out a pokémon, before Spooks phases through the ground and startled him, making him run away screaming as Spooks cackled. Two more grunts sent out a small round yellow pokémon with a brown bottom, and a small dark-colored rat. Rotom quickly buzzed, scanning them. "Zzt! drowzee and Alolan rattata! They are psychic and dark slash normal typezz, respectively!"

"Cobalt, Storm, focus on the rattata! Spooks, the drowzee!" They all gave various cries of acknowledgment to Sapphire's words, before charging. In Storm's case, this was quite literal. He used Charge to boost his attack while Cobalt kicked out at the rat, making it jump back.

The drowzee tried to use Confusion on Spooks, which the ghost poison type took with ease. He calmly endured the attack before unleashing the weakest Dark Pulse he could, sending the psychic type flying back.

Meanwhile, with the rattata, it attempted to bite Cobalt, who just weaved out of the way to let Storm slam into him. The electrical charge he carried shocked the small pokémon, letting Sapphire kick the pokémon upwards to launch them backward.

With the pokémon knocked out, the grunts quickly recalled them and ran. Sapphire himself ran towards Lillie and the pokémon, giving her a hug and letting Blast flap onto his shoulder. "Guys! I'm glad you're alright!"

"We're glad you're alright too! T-thank you for rescuing us, Sapphire!"

He grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah, it's no problem. But why didn't you fight your way out or something? I mean, I don't know if Nebby or Nebbles can do much, but we both know that Blast knows a few moves."

"Well, they said that if we tried to run that they would hurt the water pokémon they had caught…" she looked down sadly and Sapphire's gaze darkened before he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Don't worry about it. Besides, it's not like you could have stopped them all with just yourself, your pokémon, and Blast." He turned to Spooks, grinning. "And I guess you were watching over them to make sure they wouldn't get hurt, right?"

"Haunt!" Spooks nodded.

"Alright, good job! Do you mind escorting her back to our stuff on the beach so she isn't accidentally hit by any stray attacks?"

"Haunt!" Spooks licked his face, before motioning for Lillie to follow. She thanked Sapphire again, before quickly ushering Nebby and Nebbles along with her. Sapphire watched them go, before turning to see how Hau and Willow were doing.

They had both released all their pokémon and were doing well against the grunts. Granted, they were grunts and each only had one to two pokémon, with each one being very weak, but there were a lot of them.

Sapphire turned towards the nets with the water pokémon in them, before he turned towards Storm. "Storm, help Willow and Hau! Cobalt, come on!" Storm left to go help the others, while Sapphire and Cobalt ran towards the nets. He could see several different water type pokémon, their nets all partially submerged so that they could breathe.

He grabbed one of the nets and began pulling, trying to rip it apart. Of course, he couldn't do it, considering the nets were made to hold pokemon which were usually much stronger than humans. Instead, he held out a part of the net that was on land and still dry, "Cobalt, burn it up!" Cobalt nodded and set his leg on fire, holding it against the net to begin burning it.

The net quickly caught fire and began burning away until the fire reached parts of the net that was wet. But with the hole big enough, Sapphire quickly turned the net so that the hole was underwater. The pokémon floating in the net quickly swam out, escaping down the inlet into the ocean. However, a couple of pokémon stayed in the net, looking injured. He frowned, vowing to free the others, before healing every pokémon that was injured and couldn't escape.

"Olu!" Sapphire turned around to see Cobalt standing off against another member of Team Skull. She was different, however, as she wasn't wearing the standard grunt uniform. She instead wore a dark crop-top with baggy pants and red sneakers, but what drew his eyes were her own yellow eyes and pink hair.

"Uh, well I guess my first question is, are you wearing contacts?"

She gave him a bored look and placed her hand on her hip. "Is that really the most important question here?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He coughed, embarrassed. "Well, since you look more important the average grunt, I'll assume you're a leader! Why are you capturing so many water types?!"

"Why should I tell you?"

Sapphire paused. "Uh, good question. Wait, because I'm the good guy, and you're bad! That means you have to monologue about your plan, telling me everything!"

"You watch too many movies, kid." She lazily tossed an ultraball forward, releasing what looked like a much larger zubat, but with eyes and an extremely large mouth. "I'm Plumeria, an admin for Team Skull. Now, you've interrupted our activities and are beating up my grunts, so that means I'm going to have to put a stop to you. Golbat, get them."

"I'd like to see you try! Cobalt! Blaze Kick!" Cobalt barked and jumped forward, but the bat pokémon easily shrugged off the hit before slamming their wing into Cobalt's stomach to throw him back.

Cobalt rolled, leaping back to his feet. "Golbat, Air Slash." The bat waved its wings, sending a blade of incredibly sharp wind forward, throwing Cobalt back. As he got back up, Golbat darted forward with incredible speed, slamming into him with an Aerial Ace attack. He flew back again before Golbat slammed into him before he even touched the ground, throwing him higher into the air.

"Cobalt!" Sapphire watched with horror as Golbat slammed into Cobalt again and again, before slamming into him one more time and throwing him into the ground, where he lay without moving. He sprinted forward and slid onto his knees scraping them, before grabbing him and shielding him from Golbat's next Aerial Ace which threw him onto his back, while Blast flew from his shoulder, screeching.

He landed partly in the water, head underwater to see some of the pokémon, before popping back up coughing water. He shook his head, before checking on Cobalt. "Cobalt? Hey, are you alright!?" Cobalt groaned, attempting to push himself out of Sapphire's arms, before falling back. Sapphire scowled, and lay him down by the inlet's water, before grabbing another pokéball. "If Golbat's are like Zubat's then they're poison and flying types! Chrysant, I need your help!" Blast looked concerned and guilty about wanting to help, but being afraid. Sapphire saw this and smiled grimly. "Don't worry, you don't have to fight yet if you don't want to, just get to safety, maybe find Lillie and get Spooks to get over here?"

Meanwhile, as the pint-sized puppy popped onto the pristine plot of ground, Sapphire shook his head to clear it of the alliteration that appeared in his head, and Blast flew off, Plumeria continued to watch calmly. "You should just give up and run now. Golbat took out your pokémon easily, what could your others do?"

Sapphire narrowed his eyes, before releasing Claws as well. "They have teammates! Storm, get over here!" Storm looked over from where he was covering several pokémon in electrical webbing calmly, before skittering over. "Alright, her pokémon is strong, so you have to all work together! Storm, no being lazy in this battle! Start with Electroweb!"

Storm sensed the seriousness and immediately let loose a spray of webbing. "Whirlwind." Golbat screeched and followed Plumeria's order, flapping its wings to fire a wave of air forward that returned the webs towards Sapphire's team. Chrysant and Claws attempted to get out of the way, while Storm just watched uninterested. The webbing quickly covered them and began electrocuting them.

"Claws, burn it up!" Claws focused through the shocks to let out several embers, burning through the webs. They quickly ran out from under the webs to attack, with Chrysant creating several Stone Edge spikes to attack from below. Golbat quickly dodged them, before firing a blob of poison at them. Chrysant created a Stone Edge shield, which they quickly hid behind.

Claws hissed as some poison almost splashed on his paws, pushing himself back up against Chrysant. "Claws, remember the fight with Spooks! Same strategy!" Claws perked up and nodded, building up flames in his mouth. When Golbat shot around the side of their cover with more poison building up in its mouth, Claws released his fire, which quickly ignited the poison and exploded.

The Golbat screeched as it felt the first damage it had taken since the battle began. The team quickly capitalized on this, with Storm firing another wave of webbing, to slow down the bat. As the Golbat fell to the ground, unable to fly, Claws and Storm began clawing and biting, getting in as much damage as they could.

"Chrysant, set up Stealth Rocks for If the Golbat breaks free of the webbing! Then, create a shield of Stone Edge rocks around yourself!" Chrysant began doing so, making several sharp pillars of rock float high into the air, while also creating a sort of cage around them all out of Stone Edge.

For about a minute, nothing could be seen or heard inside, until the rock exploded and Chrysant, Storm, and Claws were thrown back, while Golbat launched itself backward, flapping hard and screeching angrily. It had taken noticeable damage, but not enough to be knocked out. "Golbat, Giga Drain."

Golbat let off a second screech, before energy began visibly being drained from Sapphire's team, and pulled into Golbat it's wounds began healing, while Sapphire's pokémon became more and more tired. Before they could be fully knocked out, however, a gust of icy wind blew over it, drawing its attention. It turned and screeched at its new opponent, which turned out to be Willow's Rowlet, with her and the rest of her team close by.

"Sapphire, what happened?"

"Her pokémon is really tough! It took out Cobalt in just a few moves, then the rest of my team almost just as easily!"

Willow nodded, not taking her eyes off her opponent, and who seemed just as bored as before. "Don't worry, we'll handle this. You free the rest of the pokémon."

Before he could, Plumeria interrupted. "I'm afraid that's not allowed. Golbat, Pursuit." Golbat immediately shot after him, before ramming into his stomach. He coughed as he was thrown back, crashing into the water. He was immediately submerged before he righted himself and tried to swim upwards. He had almost breached the surface, before he felt a tug on his leg, and looked down to see he had somehow gotten his leg caught on one of the nets.

He reached down to begin pulling at it, trying to kick himself loose, only to succeed in getting himself more tangled. He grimaced as oxygen escaped his mouth, and he tried to stay conscious and pull himself free. He could see some of the injured pokémon that couldn't swim away earlier watching him, concerned, but it was getting harder and harder to focus until his grip eventually loosened and he blacked out.

* * *

Cobalt shot upwards, eyes wide as he felt panic. Not his own, but emanating from nearby. What really got him moving, however, was the fact that it was mixed in with Sapphire's familiar aura signature, and that Willow was yelling for him to save Sapphire, while she dealt with Team Skull. He scrambled to his feet and looked around, only to notice that the aura was coming from underwater, in the inlet.

He could barely hear Willow shouting commands behind him or the crash of attacks hitting each other as he jumped headfirst into the water. Luckily the inlet wasn't that deep, barely seven or eight feet, but with Sapphire only being five foot seven, and the net being tangled around his foot at the riverbed, he couldn't reach the top.

Cobalt quickly swam downwards and found the netting that was wrapped around his foot and hand, pulling on it. He wouldn't get untangled, so Cobalt began trying to bite it and tear it open, but even then it wouldn't break. Cobalt could feel his breath getting short, but continued to try and tear the netting from Sapphire.

Just when Cobalt thought that he wouldn't be able to free Sapphire before the trainer would drown, several of the injured water types began swimming to help him. They began biting down on the net that held him, and with all their combined strength, finally ripped through it. Sapphire nodded at them with clear gratitude, and swam upwards, dragging Sapphire's limp form.

They quickly breached the surface, Cobalt coughing to clear his lungs, before he half swam, half dragged Sapphire to the shore of the inlet. When they reached it, Cobalt began checking over Sapphire, only to have his heart skip a beat when he saw that Sapphire wasn't breathing. He wasn't sure at all what to do and began crying and shaking him, trying to wake him. " _Sapphire! Sapphire, please!"_

They were footsteps behind him, and he turned to see Willow rush over. "Cobalt? What happened to Sapphire!?"

" _He… he was at the bottom of the water, his foot got caught! He's not breathing!"_ He wasn't sure if he was translating himself or not, but Willow clearly got the gist of it.

"Alright, I'll try and help him, but you have to go and help my team, that woman has incredibly tough pokémon." Cobalt looked at her with watery eyes, and she quickly motioned him away. "Hurry, I forget exactly how long it takes before CPR no longer works, go!"

Cobalt nodded and ran, focusing on the bat that was fighting against Willow's whole team and winning. Well, they were doing better than Sapphire's but they were still losing. Grimer had just taken a nasty hit and had been thrown backward with his goo splashing everywhere before it slowly tried to reform its body.

That Golbat had been the one to attack Sapphire directly. It was the one that caused him to fly back and almost drown! Cobalt howled with rage and sprinted forward, before leaping into the air and unleashing a powerful Force Palm. "Golbat, look out!" The Golbat turned, surprised at the sudden reappearance of the pokémon it though it had knocked out before it was launched backward by the flare of blue aura.

Cobalt rolled as he landed, an uncharacteristic snarl on his face. Nearby, he could see Cream, clearly hurt from protecting Rowlet from a poison type attack, looking at him concerned, and slightly scared. " _Mister Cobalt? Are you alright?"_

" _I'm completely fine. It's sapphire who's hurt!"_ He saw Cream look back and gasp at Sapphire laying on the ground unconscious, with Willow pumping her hands against his chest. " _And I'm going to make them pay!"_

" _M-Mister Cobalt, I know you're angry, but w-we have to work together! T-they're really tough, an-"_

" _Screw that!"_ Cobalt roared and charged the Golbat as it got up again, slightly disoriented from the surprisingly powerful move, considering it shouldn't have been so effective, given its typing.

"Golbat, get up high!" The poison flying type quickly obeyed, flapping its wings to fly high above Cobalt, where none of his physical moves could reach it. Or at least, it thought it was. Cobalt quickly crouched down, before leaping as high as he could, using High Jump Kick.

The Golbat screeched in surprise as Cobalt slammed his foot into its face, before kicking off to grab one of its wings, and slamming Force Palm after Force Palm into its joint. The Golbat screeched and flapped its wings to use Whirlwind, throwing Cobalt downwards.

Before he Impacted with the ground, he felt himself get slowed down, and as he flipped almost lazily in midair, he saw Cream holding her paws out with her eyes glowing. When she let him go to land, she quickly looked him over with concern. " _Are you okay?"_

" _I'm good."_ Golbat has flown even higher, so now even his High Jump Kick or Sky Uppercut wouldn't reach them. He'd have to rely on the others using their ranged attacks. " _You'll have to bring it down, I can't do anything with how high it is."_

Cream nodded and formed several spheres of psychic energy, launching them upwards. Golbat avoided them all, before launching down several Air Slashes. Before they could hit, Rowlet interrupted them by launching a Gust at them, the two flying type attacks canceling out as wind pushed against wind.

Rowlet flapped his wings as he hovered next to them, observing the enemy. " _Do either of you have any ideas on how to defeat the enemy? They are rather strong, and their ability to heal themselves with Giga Drain is quite annoying."_

" _Unless I'm hit with a powerful physical move, Enduring Counter and Ultra Counter won't work. And Golbat's been using mostly special moves like those Air Slashes and Whirlwinds."_ He paused as Rowlet deflected another Air Slash. " _And all of our regular attacks aren't doing much good. We're going to have to hit them with something hard, and powerful."_

" _D-do you have something like that, Mister Cobalt?"_

" _Yeah, our version of Flame Wheel that me and Sapphire were working on. But I need a lot of height and a lot of momentum for it to hit hard enough to even wound that guy."_

" _Sapphire and I, Cobalt. But I believe I can assist with that."_

" _Alright, But we've still got to distract Golbat while we set that up. Slowpoke!"_ Willow's Slowpoke, who had been observing the battle blankly, turned to him at a sloths pace. " _I need you to-"_

" _Yyyyeeeaaahhh?"_

"… _I need you to help Cream distract the Golbat with some psychic attacks! Can you do that?"_

Pause.

" _I said, can you-"_

" _Ooookkkaaayyy,"_

" _Alright great, we'll-"_

" _Iiii cccaaannn dddooo ttthhhaaattt…"_

Cobalt watched him for a moment before sighing. " _I hate Slowpokes. Whatever! Come on, Rowlet!"_ Rowlet nodded and grabbed hold of him, flapping quickly to gain height.

Golbat meanwhile, built up a ball of Toxic, spitting it down at them. Rowlet quickly dodged to the side, and before Golbat could build up another ball, several psychic typed attacks flew by them. They quickly focused on Slowpoke and Cream and built up a Shadow Ball in its mouth.

Seeing the super effective attack being built, Cream backed off. Slowpoke did as well, but, well… slowly. The attack slammed into him, throwing him back, where he skid on his side, before stopping. He lay there for a moment, blank-faced before the pain registered and he slowly let out a grimace. " _Oooowww…"_

At the same time, Rowlet flew higher and higher, before looking down. " _Is this high enough?"_

" _Probably. Any higher and I run the risk of missing."_ Rowlet nodded and prepared to drop him. " _Let go… Now!"_ Rowlet did as told, and when he let go, the Jackal like pokémon spin and kicked off of Rowlet for extra momentum.

He quickly began spinning, and an idle thought in the back of his mind likened him to that blue hedgehog character from one of the video games Sapphire had shown him back in Kanto before he lit his leg aflame. The fire quickly surrounded his body as he imitated a Flame Wheel, But much more powerful, considering the momentum he was building up, and from how high he was falling from.

"Golbat, above you!" Golbat looked up and screeched when it saw Cobalt coming, attempting to use Whirlwind to blow him away. It barely slowed his momentum, and Cobalt slammed down, digging his foot into the pokémon's head. Golbat cried out as the flaming paw punted them downwards, where they smashed into the ground.

Cobalt almost landed just as hard, as even though his momentum halted from smashing the Golbat's face in, he still fell afterward, before Cream caught him psychically. " _Mister Cobalt, that was amazing!"_

He smiled weakly, rubbing his leg. It seemed the more momentum he added to Hell Wheel, what Sapphire had named their unique move, the more damage it did to him as well as the opponent. He would have to remember that. " _Thanks, Cream. And thanks for catching me as well."_ He patted her head, and she smiled up at him.

"Leech Life." There was a sudden screech behind them, and Cobalt shoved Cream out of the way instinctively, as the Golbat rose up yet again, and sank its fangs into his shoulder. He cried out, feeling his energy get drained as the opponent healed itself.

" _Mister Cobalt!"_

* * *

Sapphire felt something warm on his lips. That was certainly weird. The last thing he remembered was being hit, then being thrown underwater. Did he die? Was heaven all warm? It would make sense, he supposed. Heaven was supposed to be nice.

But then, the rest of his body was freezing! Well, except for his chest, for some reason. Wait, was he in hell?! Was his hell having to be perpetually hot and cold in different parts of his body!? That would suck! He always hated that feeling! However, the warmth on his lips suddenly departed, and he felt it on his chest again. What was going on?

There was suddenly force pressed into his chest, not enough to hurt, but definitely hard. After a few seconds of that, there was warmth on his lips again. Now, that sounded really familiar! What was that thing, where you do something to somebody's chest, then their mouth, then back and forth? It had something to do with breathing?

At that thought, he suddenly realized he couldn't breathe. His eyes shot open, and he saw something blurry above him, that looked like a light peach color, with brown above it. When his eyes cleared up, he could see… Willow? Why was she so close to him? Then, he remembered the warmth on his lips. Then he remembered he couldn't breathe.

He shot upwards, hacking and coughing, spitting up water. Next to him, Willow slapped his back, helping him cough it all up, even if she did have a massive blush on her face. When he finished coughing up all the water in his lungs, he groaned and flopped back down. "What happened?" His groan was dry, normally something he'd like to fix, but with how he was drowning a minute ago? Yeah, no thanks.

"I'm sure you can guess." Willow pulled him back upwards, rubbing his back. Even if it seemed all the water was out, it was best to make sure. And it seemed she was right, since he coughed lightly again, before spitting the excess water away.

"Well, I know that I was, well, drowning, but how'd I get out? I think there was something around my foot?"

"I think it was one of the nets. Anyway, Cobalt dove in to get you, and he and some of the water pokémon helped get you free." She pointed towards the water, and he turned to see several pokémon watching him. They were all differently shaped, clams, fish, horses, tadpoles, but they all looked concerned.

"Thanks, Guys." He weakly smiled, and flashed them a thumbs up, which they all gave various cries of acknowledgment towards. He slowly got up, a slow blush creeping onto his face. "Wait, so, if I was drowning…"

Willow looked away, embarrassed. "I… did have to do CPR on you… my apologies, but, I had to make sure you were breathing, and…"

"No, no, it's fine, I mean, you did save my life, so…" they each began stammering, blushing, and rubbing the back of their neck in Sapphire's case while looking away from Willow's bathing suit, and playing with their hair in Willow's case.

There was a lull, only interrupted when Cobalt and Golbat slammed into the ground in the background. Sapphire quickly took the out. "Maybe we should do this later."

"Agreed." They quickly ran towards the battle and arrived just in time to see Golbat using Leech Life on Cobalt.

"Cobalt, Endure and Circle Throw!" Cobalt perked up when he heard Sapphire's voice, and quickly used Endure, powering through the attack and using Circle Throw. Golbat was grabbed from behind, before being thrown forward and slammed into the ground.

He quickly jumped away as the Golbat slammed him away with its wings, throwing him back towards the trainers. Sapphire quickly picked him up, checking him over. "Cobalt, are you alright?"

He nodded, before getting back to his feet. Sapphire turned towards the bat and Plumeria who still stood in the background, just as interested as she was when the battle began, which was to say, incredibly bored. "Alright, that Golbat is tough, and it can heal itself with Giga Drain and Leech Life… we'll have to finish it in a single hit. Did you already try Hell Wheel?"

" _I already tried Hell Wheel."_

"Alright, he already tried Hell Wheel…" he thought to himself. "Okay, what about… Willow, distract them!" Willow nodded, and stepped forward, beginning to give commands to her team. "Alright, Cobalt, What do you think about trying out the Z-Move?"

" _I think it could work. I mean, we haven't even used it, or even seen it yet, but sure. Why not."_ Sapphire grinned at the snark in Cobalt's voice and looked at his Z-Power Ring. He found the slot the Normalium Z was on and grabbed it.

He stood there for a moment, before turning to Cobalt. "Uh, What do you think I'm supposed to do with it?"

Cobalt facepalmed, " _How should I know?!"_

"Alright, alright! Hold on! So, I'm supposed to focus on my positive feelings or whatever, but, do I hold it? Do I keep it in the bracelet? What do I do!?"

"Sapphire, whatever you're doing, do it soon!" Willow grimaced as Cream struggled to hold up a Light Screen against a Venoshock attack.

"Right!" Sapphire closed his eyes, and held the gem in his fist, focusing. There was silence for a moment until an explosion happened in the background. "Alright, why the hell are explosions suddenly happening now when I need to focus?!"

" _Obviously, nothing was happening anyway. Try something else."_ Sapphire sighed and replaced the crystal into the ring, beginning again.

Positive thoughts. Well, he had tons of those. Cobalt, his very first pokémon. When he'd found him injured, he almost immediately knew they'd have a connection, and in the month before they'd left for Alola, they'd had amazing fun. Exploring around Celadon, playing games, watching shows, it was amazing.

And then Alola! Netting the rest of their team, exploring the routes! And the battles they were in! Every win they got was won through hard work and strategy, and maybe a bit of luck, while every loss they learned from! And they'd continue on, and get stronger! Until they were the best Trainer and Partner Pokémon isn't the world!

There was a sudden rush of energy through him, and when Sapphire opened his eyes they had a grey tint to them as normal type energy flowed through him, and towards Cobalt.

His arms moved instinctively and formed an X in front of his face, his Z-Power Ring giving off a flash from the Normalium Z, before he pointed both arms forward, then downwards towards the right. His left arm pointed in the opposite direction, upwards and to the left, before they both closed inwards, making a Z with his arms.

Energy flowed off of his form, and exploded onto Cobalt, with a grey Z forming over him, before a grey aura appeared over him. There was a moment where both trainer and pokémon were completely in sync and could feel perfectly each other's emotions, thoughts, and aura.

A moment later, and Cobalt crouched down, energy building in his lithe body, and Sapphire pointed his arm forward. "Cobalt, use Breakdown Blitz!" Cobalt subsequently shot forwards, with such speed and power that the ground around him shot up, creating a trench behind him as he sprinted, a shield of normal aura around him.

Seeing Cobalt approaching, Cream and Rowlet shot away, and Golbat attempted to do the same, before Cream disoriented the bat with a confusion attack, long enough for Cobalt to reach them. The sheer force that Cobalt hit the pokémon with immediately knocked it out, tossing it backward, crashing down into the ground, and rolling over several times.

Cobalt dug his feet into the ground, slowing down. He huffed for a few seconds, before tiredly cheering along with the others. "Nice job, Cobalt!" He turned and threw a thumbs up back at his trainer.

"Hmm. Well, it took you a while, but you did succeed." They all turned back towards Plumeria, who had returned the bat. "I suppose I should congratulate you on that, even if it did take multiple teams."

"Hey, you lost, so leave! These pokémon aren't yours!"

She turned to Sapphire and raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that was my only pokémon?"

"…Well, I mean, most of the grunts only have one pokémon…"

"Well, you won't fight alone!" Hau suddenly ran up, grinning. "Don't worry guys, I've taken care of the grunts, we can take care of her other pokémon together!"

Sapphire grinned and turned back towards Plumeria. "Try us then! As long as we have each other, we aren't losing any time soon!"

Plumeria watched them, before nodding. "Well, it's not like I was going to continue fighting anyway."

Another beat. "…What?"

"Eh, you earned a bit of my respect for those strategies you used. And the fact you even managed to knock Golbat out. Next time, however, I won't be as forgiving of you interrupting our plans." She began walking away, waving the grunts behind her. "Come on Guys, we're done here."

Sapphire watched her go, confused about whether he should be relieved that the woman with the tough pokémon was leaving, or upset that it ended so abruptly. He turned, remembering the nets. "Come on guys, let's free the rest of those pokémon."

The three trainers began ripping up the nets, freeing all of the captives within them, while Sapphire sent Rotom to get Lillie and the other pokémon. The water types all gave various noises and cries of thanks, before swimming away. Any that were too injured to swim away, the trainers got out their medical supplies for.

"Alright, this may sting a little, so be ready." The Luvdisc, a heart-shaped fish pokémon, let out a quiet noise of acknowledgment, and Sapphire carefully spritzed some potion on its wound. The pokémon let out a small cry, before quieting down. Sapphire smiled and gave them an Oran berry, letting them swim away.

Sapphire reached for another potion for the next pokémon, before realizing his bag was empty. "Hey, guys, anybody have any extra medicine?"

They all looked through their bags, frowns forming. "None here."

"It seems I've run out."

"I don't have any more either…" Sapphire bit the inside of his cheek, thinking.

"It's not like we can just leave them injured…" He absentmindedly pet a small seahorse pokémon as he thought, which cooed and rubbed against his submerged legs.

Hau perked up. "Why don't we catch them? If we send them back to the lab, then the Professor can help them!"

Lillie nodded. "That would be smart, the Professor does have a lot of medical supplies at the lab."

"Alright, hey are you all okay with heading to our professor's lab? You'll all be treated nicely, then let go when you're all better!" There were various sounds of agreement which Cobalt confirmed for him before Sapphire rooted around in his bag. "Rotom, do you mind messaging the professor about our plan?"

"Zzt! Roger that!"

"Alright, I'm the only one here with a full team, so everyone give me your pokéballs." After everyone gave him their spare pokéballs, Sapphire went around capturing the pokémon. A couple were nervous about being captured, so he made sure to soothe them, such as the seahorse pokémon from earlier.

After all of the pokémon has been captured, Sapphire sighed and rubbed his head. "Well, there went our beach day. Sorry, guys."

Hau laughed, "Come on Sapphire, it's not like you knew that Team Skull would ruin our fun! Don't beat yourself up about it!"

Willow nodded. "I agree with Hau. And… I also had fun, before we found out about Team Skull. And afterward…" she whispered the last part, blushing and turning away while touching her lips.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Sapphire looked at her weirdly, before shrugging. "Well, if you guys say so…" he grinned, grabbing his bag and shouldering it. "Come on then, let's get moving."

* * *

 **Done. Welp, hope that was enjoyable. First big change from the canon games, wonder what Team Skull was doing there? Not spoiling that. Review if you'd like. I know I usually don't because I'm not sure what to say other than "Good job, nice chapter," but if that's all you have to say I'm fine with that.**

 **Also, Plumeria. Yeah, I don't think it's that likely that a couple new trainers could handle a trainer who's been a thug in Team Skull for… however long. Of course, they'll be using this as motivation to get stronger, so they'll probably have a bit of an easier time next time they fight. Maybe. Probably.**

 **Welp, better start putting this in every chapter. I'm only putting Sapph's and Willow's teams since everyone else has teams pretty similar to canon. Teams so far:**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**


	10. Chapter 10: Homeward Bound

**Chapter Ten, getting into the double digits whoop whoop. Bit of a calm down chapter after last, which is always fun. Can't wait to write the battle with Hala next chapter.**

Chapter Ten: Homeward Bound

* * *

Claws back flipped away from a spray of Sleep Powder, before darting to the side to avoid a Gist attack. "Claws, they're preparing another powder move! Light it up!" Claws hissed and followed Sapphire's advice, spitting several embers up at the Butterfree he was fighting.

The pollen that the Butterfree was building up quickly caught on fire, along with the pokémon itself. As the pokémon panicked and tried to get rid of the fire now burning it, Claws jumped up and latched on to it, clawing at its wings.

The Butterfree quickly fell to the floor knocked unconscious. Claws landed gracefully nearby, licking his paws. "Butterfree is unconscious!" Sapphire whooped as Willow announced the victor, and Claws padded over to him.

"Nice job, Claws! Return!" Sapphire grinned and spun Claws' pokéball, before placing it back on his belt. He then approached his opponent and offered a hand. "That was a great fight! I had fun!"

His opponent grinned and took his hand, shaking it. "I did as well! But you defeated me, and that means you're officially the strongest trainer on Route Three!"

"Ah, I guess? I mean, I defeated the rest of those trainers, and you said you'd only battle someone who defeated all of them, so would that make me the strongest? There could be other people who just haven't battled you yet who are stronger than both of us."

The trainer paused. "Ah. Maybe. But either way! You've defeated me, so take your prize!" He quickly transferred some currency over to his trainer account and handed over a TM.

"Uh, you know you only need to give me money right? You don't need to give me a TM."

"No! As the strongest trainer on Route Three, you require a prize for my defeat! Behold, TM19, Roost!"

"Uh, thanks. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you then." Sapphire waved goodbye to the man and began walking away with Willow. When they were far enough away, Sapphire leaned over and whispered at Willow, "Well that was weird."

"Indeed. Nice though. I wonder how many Technical Machines He has to buy to gift to trainers that beat him?" Sapphire shrugged in response.

"No idea. But I know they're pretty expensive, so he has to at least beat more trainers than he loses to, to make a profit."

They continued walking in silence, though not an uncomfortable one, more a companionable one. Where they didn't have to say anything to know the other person was content. Their pokémon as well were resting, Cream in Willow's bag, and Cobalt in Sapphire's. Even if it had been a bit more than a day since the Team Skull incident, each was still pretty tired, with Cobalt having been sleeping the entire time

Eventually, it began getting dark. Thus, the two trainers had to get ready for sleep. Sapphire began setting up a fire and refilled their water supplies in a nearby stream, while Sapphire set up their tents began cooking dinner. It was pretty simple and would have a professional cook and Anthony turn up their nose, 'though the latter more for humor' Sapphire thought, but it was filling enough.

Cobalt continued to sleep through the night, so Sapphire simply set out a bowl full of food for when he'd wake up. After dinner, the two trainers chatted amicably about whatever pooped into their minds, with Sapphire usually leading the conversation, as Willow was too… not shy, but polite in how she'd wait for him.

"So yeah, that's how I ended up getting an entire flock of spearow to chase me, Cobalt, Gearface, and Bolt back to Celadon."

"Oh dear. That must not have been fun." Willow tried to hide her laughter, but Sapphire grinning and laughing at his tale let her know it was alright to laugh at what was basically being mobbed by a horde of raging birds.

"Course not! But at least when we got back to Celadon, the police dispersed the flock. The police back in Celadon are, or at least were, let's just say very familiar with me."

"Oh?"

"No, don't get the wrong idea! I've never broken any laws or whatever, and I never did anything illegal, but I was usually involved in _something_ that would end up affecting the whole city. There was that Grimer and Muk infestation in the sewers, the Spearow, obviously, there was the whole situation where I accidentally caused a whole bunch of Pikachu to short out the city's electricity… basically, I was a part of _lots_ of investigations."

"Oh dear. I suppose you were somewhat popular back home then?"

Sapphire snorted. "Heck no!" Willow looked surprised at that. "What? Just because I'm high-energy and pretty much always positive all the time doesn't mean I was popular back home. I'd say I was more in the middle. I was never ostracized, but then again, I didn't have hordes of people following me around begging for my autograph."

Willow laughed at that and nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. You were just the average joe then."

"Hey, is there _anything_ average about me?" He grinned and spread his arms, wiggling his eyebrows. "But yeah, that pretty much describes my life back in Celadon. What about you?"

"Mm…"

"Oh, uh, if you're not comfortable talking about it or whatever you don't have to. I remember back before the festival you didn't want to talk about why you didn't have friends…?" Sapphire flinched as he tried to word his statement politely.

"No, no it's fine." Willow thought for a moment. "Well… back in Shalour city, I was actually very popular." Sapphire tilted his head but didn't interrupt. "I was the smartest in all my classes, in trainer school as well I was the most skilled in both theory and practical, and… well…"

"You were the prettiest?"

Willow blushed. "Ah, well…"

Sapphire smiled even as he felt heat rise in his cheeks. "Well, I know it can be hard to talk about yourself in a good light without sounding like you're bragging, which I absolutely hate. It's usually why I brag in a joking tone. And besides that, well, you are really pretty…" Sapphire's voice slowly dropped off until his mutters weren't even distinguishable as words.

Willow shook her head. "A-anyway. So, even though I preferred to keep to myself, I became rather popular. People would follow and try to spend time with me to become popular as well, and I was too shy and polite to tell them to go away.

"Eventually, I created a more outgoing persona to keep up with it, but I think that just made me more popular. Either way, nobody became friends with me to just… become friends with me, they became friends with me to raise their own social standing."

"Oh. Oh, so that's why your personality was, like, super different from when we first met to now."

She nodded. "Yes, I was so used being in that personality, even after a month here, that that's how I greeted and treated everyone."

"Why'd you change?"

"Well… I saw that you treated Hau, and Lillie, and your pokémon the same as me, and began hoping that you were different, that you wouldn't treat people differently depending on who they were, or what they're like."

Sapphire chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I don't really care about what someone acts like, as long as they're a nice guy. If someone's an… well, an asshole, then I'm not going to give them the time of day."

"Of course. But as long as they aren't mean spirited, you've made friends with them. So I… began acting like myself again. Shy and polite, and you still treated me the same as when I was outgoing. But anyway… that's why I was so surprised by you calling me a friend back at the festival. Because I've never really had a true friend."

Sapphire grinned. "Well, Willow, now you do! And not just me, but Hau, Lillie, and all of our pokémon! We all count you as a friend! You don't have to act differently around us." Willow smiled back at him and nodded.

"Thank you, Sapphire."

"Come on Willow, remember what I said? My friends call me Sapph."

"Right. Thank you, Sapph."

"Ooh, yeah, we'll have to work on making that sound not as stilted." He laughed, before standing up. "Well, it's getting late. I'm going to turn in, what about you?"

"I will as well. Goodnight, Sapphi- Sapph."

"Night, Willow."

* * *

Cobalt grumbled and rolled over, or at least tried to, before he realized that he was squeezed into a super tighter space. Not an uncomfortable one, his surroundings were soft, but he couldn't really move. He looked around to see that he was inside Sapphire's bag, and quickly exited it.

He could see Sapphire had somehow managed to escape his sleeping bag, _while still asleep,_ and was now sleeping with his legs propped up against his tent wall and face smushed into the dirt. Cobalt looked at his trainer for a moment before throwing his hands to either side. " _How?!"_

Sapphire snorted and rolled over before his legs slid off his tent wall and fell onto the dirt. He twitched slightly and opened his eyes blearily. "Wha…?"

" _How you manage to sleep in such odd ways I'll never know."_

"Let me live my life, Cobalt." He shifted around as he talked back, sitting upright. "So," He interrupted himself by yawning. "You finally up?"

" _I guess. How long have I been asleep?"_

"About a day. I guess those Z-Moves really take it out of you, huh?"

" _Maybe. I mean, I had already taken a beating, so using a Z-Move for the first time probably was a bit too much."_

"I'll say. So, you hungry?"

Cobalt finally realized that he had a large gnawing in his stomach. " _Yeah, starving."_

"I got some food outside, hold on." His trainer exited the tent, and he quickly followed. When he saw an extra tent, he looked over at Sapphire confused, who inferred his question. "Oh, that's Willow's tent."

Cobalt grinned. " _So, you two have a heartfelt conversation and confess your undying love for each other before-"_

"I'm gonna stop you right there. My life is rated T for Teen, not M for Mature."

" _Eh, you're saying that now. I'm only speaking the inevitable."_

"Don't make me punt you into a river." Sapphire looked around for his cooking supplies. "That's weird. I could have sworn they were by the fire pit…"

There was a sudden squawking and a small red bird flew up from what was supposed to be Cobalt's bowl, scratching its talons against his face. "Of course its the face, goddamn, get em Cobalt!"

" _Get away from my food!"_

"You're supposed to be angry that he was scratching me!"

" _Eh, I'm pretty hungry."_ The bird began flying away, and Sapphire quickly ran back into his tent to grab his bag.

"Cobalt, go get them! I need to grab a few pokéballs!" Cobalt rolled his eyes before running after the flying pokémon. He couldn't fault his trainer for wanting to catch it, good teams were usually rounded out, and a new flying pokémon could be helpful.

Cobalt leaped onto a branch before using it as a springboard for a High Jump Kick. The bird turned and squawked in alarm at the fast approaching riolu before it was knocked out of the sky. They both quickly landed, though Cobalt did it with far more grace.

Cobalt grinned and hopped back and forth, settling into a fighting stance. " _Come on, let's dance!"_

" _I thought we were fighting?"_

" _Humans are weird, different words can mean the same things. I just picked that up from being a captured pokémon."_

" _But isn't our language just us saying our names over and over again? Or at least, that's what humans think it is?"_

" _Huh. Yeah, I guess it is. I wonder why-"_ Cobalt paused when he saw the bird try and fly off again, and used High Jump Kick again to knock him out of the sky. " _You sly dog, you got me monologuing!"_

" _I'm a bird."_

" _Whatever!"_ He charged in and tried using Bullet Punch, which the bird took, using the momentum transferred to it to launch into the sky. It circled around, using Tailwind to give itself a boost in speed, before dive bombing him and using Peck.

Cobalt guarded himself with his arms and felt himself get pushed back slightly by the force from the blow. Once he was done getting pushed back, he pulled his foot back, before lashing out with a side kick powered by a Blaze Kick.

The bird was thrown back, before flapping its wings to catch himself. Once stable, it began flying around the clearing at high speeds. Cobalt tried following with his eyes, but the speed became too much, and he quickly lost track.

Luckily for him, his trainer bound into the clearing at that moment, grinning. "Never fear, I am here!" The bird quickly slammed into his face, and Cobalt used the opportunity to catch up, jumping forward and delivering a kick to it. However, the bird moved just in time, and instead, Sapphire was kicked.

Cobalt tracked the bird as Sapphire tumbled into a tree, dazed. Sapphire slowly got up, rubbing his jaw. "Well. All right then." He shook his head and focused on the fight. "Not even a sorry?"

" _I was just about to ask. Your face got in the way."_

Sapphire snorted and cracked his neck. "Funny." As the bird stopped speeding up and attacked, Sapphire called out "Detect!" Cobalt's eyes glowed a brighter red than usual, and he instinctively dodged out of the faster pokémon's way. The pokémon flapped its wings to stop, But was moving too fast and slammed beak-first into a tree.

As it tried to free itself from the free, Cobalt leaped high and delivered an ax-kick to it, knocking it down onto the ground. The bird was dazed and tried to reorient itself before Cobalt slammed into it with Quick Attack. The bird was knocked unconscious, and Sapphire tossed a pokéball forward. The ball sucked the pokémon in and wobbled several times before there was a 'click'.

The ball glowed, before vanishing, being transported to Professor Kukui's lab. Sapphire grinned and walked forward, sitting down next to Cobalt. "Nice fight, especially after having been asleep so long."

" _He stole my food."_ Cobalt shrugged.

Sapphire snorted. Before frowning. "Hey, uh, did you perfect your aura talking thing recently?"

Cobalt looked at him confused. " _What? No. I don't think I'm anywhere close to being able to converse with people. Well, maybe I'm a bit better than I used to be, but not perfect."_

"Huh."

"What?"

"Well, I'm… pretty sure that I got all of that."

" _What really? Are you sure that you're not just inferring what I'm saying or whatever?"_

"No, because then I'd hear an underlying rio lu rio or whatever. No, I'm getting everything you're saying, you just asked, what really, and are you sure that you're not just inferring what I'm saying or whatever."

" _Huh."_ Cobalt thought for a moment. " _Do you know why you can suddenly understand me now?"_

"I'm… not sure. I couldn't understand that pokémon we just fought, so it's not like I can randomly understand every pokémon I come across." Sapphire took off his bag and dug through it until he found the book on aura. He began flipping through it until he located the chapter on conversing with pokémon through aura. "Okay, let's see if there's some explanation."

Cobalt looked over his shoulder, reading the small, neat script. "Alrighty then. There's the standard stuff about focus and meditation, but… Alright here we go, a big part of it is understanding and befriending the pokémon you wish to converse with. Soon after, you'll begin being able to converse with any pokémon."

" _But we've been friends for a while now, why is it suddenly kicking in now?"_

"Maybe… yesterday, when we used the Normalium Z, to activate it, you have to think about your connection with your pokémon, plus during it, we both connected completely, both of us were totally in sync, our emotions and thoughts, and aura. Remember that?" Cobalt nodded, remembering the feeling. "Do you think that could have jump-started my connection? And with your partial skill in aura translation translating yourself, is that perfecting it?"

Cobalt thought about it. " _It could make sense."_ They continued to sit there for a moment before turning to Sapphire. " _I'm hungry."_

He snorted and stood up. "Alright. Let's get you something to eat, you smol blue jackal thing."

"… _How did you manage to verbally misspell small?"_

"It's a talent."

" _Whatever. Hey, since you can perfectly understand me now and don't have to infer what I'm saying, mind if I ask a question?"_

"Sure, what?"

" _How was kissing Willow?"_ Sapphire grabbed Cobalt from his shoulder and wound up, throwing him deep into the forest. " _Worth it!"_

* * *

Bright and early the next day, Sapphire and Willow were walking across the boundary between Route Three and Route One. Sapphire grinned at the sight of Hau'oli Village and Hau'oli City in the distance and slightly quickened his pace. "Man, It feels like months since we left!'

"Indeed. Surprising, since it has been little less than a week.," Willow smiled. "What will you do when you get back?"

"What do you think? Take a bath! Rivers are not comparable to showers at all! And pokémon center showers are fine, but it's not as familiar and comforting as a bath in your own home!"

"I suppose so," Willow nodded.

"Of course, afterward I think I'll spend the day training the team. The Grand Trial is next, and I want to be as prepared as possible for that."

"I'll be training as well. The Normal Trial was difficult enough, who knows how strong Kahuna Hala's pokémon are?"

"Probably very, considering he's a Kahuna. His pokémon are Fighting-types as well, so they'll be pretty hard-hitting pokémon." Sapphire lifted a hand to his chin, thinking to himself. "I don't think many of my pokémon are super-effective against the fighting-type, but then again, the only one of my pokémon that he would be super-effective against is Chrysant."

"I believe most of my own pokémon are actually neutral or super-effective against his pokémon, like Cream. Of course, his fighting-types will be super-effective against Grimer, so I'll just have to hope it's a three-on-three battle."

"Wait, I sometimes lose track of typing and what's effective against what, but I'm pretty sure fighting-types are neutral to poison-types."

Willow shook her head. "I'm not sure if you know or not, but the Alolan form of Grimer is a dark-type, as well as poison-type."

"Really? I know that some pokémon have different patterns or colors depending on the region, but I didn't know that some pokémon changed types!"

Willow smiled, happy to see Sapphire interested in her words. "Indeed. I believe it is this way because the environments some pokémon live in have different climates. For example, one of the more known about type changes is the Alolan versions of Vulpix and Ninetales. As Alolan versions of them live on Mount Lanakila, they have adjusted to the cold by becoming ice-types"

"Neat! I wonder what they look like… I mean, fire-types are objectively better, but ice types are still pretty _cool._ " He snickered at his pun, while Willow let off a weak chuckle. "Well, whatever. I'll have to see if I can catch one if I ever go mountain climbing up mount Lanakiller."

"Lanakila."

"That's what I said, Lanakilloreo." Willow shook her head and he grinned, before refocusing on the path as they walked into Hau'oli village. Sapphire suddenly perked up when he saw the professor's lab and ranch in the distance. "That's right! We should check on the pokémon we saved."

Willow nodded. "Good idea, let's go do that now." They diverted course from their houses towards the professor's lab, walking through the northern gate.

Before they reached the house, the red and white bird from the day before flew down and landed on Sapphire's head, grabbing his sunglasses with its beak and flipping them up onto itself. "Hey, it's you! How're you enjoying the ranch so far?"

The bird looked down at him through his glasses and squawked, lifting off and flying around his head.

"Is that another one of your pokemon?"

"Yeah, caught 'em last night! Actually, I didn't even check what they were!"

 _"I'm pretty sure he's a Fletchling, or Fletchinder, one of the two."_

"Rotom?"

"Zzt, Cobalt izz correct! That izz Fletchinder, the Ember Pokémon! He izz a Fire-Flying type, and izz the evolution of Fletchling! Newly evolved Fletchinderzz are just getting used to their Fire-typing and will often be seen expelling emberzz from their beak, and their speed after takeoff izz in the top speed clazz of all bird pokémon! Zzt!"

"Cool!" Sapphire shielded his eyes to look up at Fletchinder. "Hey Fletchinder, we're going inside to meet the Professor, want to come in or stay outside?"

Fletchinder chirped something, and Cobalt translated. _"He'd rather stay outside."_

"Alright, how about you think up a nickname for yourself as we go in? All my pokemon have nicknames!" Fletchinder nodded and adjusted Sapphire's glasses so they wouldn't fall from his beak.

Willow smiled next to him, saying: "I need to catch some pokémon soon."

"Eh, I mean some trainers capture tons of pokémon, some only capture, like, six or seven. All depends on the trainer!"

They entered the wooden house the Professor lived in, to see him walking upstairs from the basement. He turned when he heard the door open and smiled as he waved at them. "Hey, look who's here! Lillie told me 'bout what happened!"

"Yeah? Is she alright? I mean, she was when she left with Hau, but I'm not usually good at judging people's moods unless they're obviously showing them."

"She was a bit shaken up, but she's just fine! Thanks to both of you for helping!"

"It was no problem, Professor," Willow said, smiling.

"Yeah, no skin off my nose!"

" _Except for the fact that, you know, ya nearly drowned?"_

Sapphire rolled his eyes at Cobalt's words. "Anyway, Professor, we came to check on the water types we sent here."

"Ah yes! Come with me!" He walked away, and they quickly followed him down into the laboratory's basement. There were a bunch of bookshelves and a couple of machines for working out, but in the back was a large tank filled with water. "This is connected to the ocean, the part that is technically part of the ranch, so the water types that trainers send here can relax out in the ocean, then swim through the tubes to here so I can feed them!"

He pressed a button and a small pool appeared, and after a few seconds, several water types began appearing. Most of them trilled and began swimming closer, smiling at him and Willow. Sapphire grinned and bent down, petting as many as he could. Willow did as well, giggling as several nipped at her fingers.

" _Most of them are saying thank you for saving them, and a few just want more petting,"_ Cobalt translated as he jumped down and dipped his paws into the water, leaning back.

"I can accommodate!" He laughed and pet a small seahorse looking pokémon.

"When they're all healed I'm going to give them the choice of whether they want to leave or not, but for now they're going to be recuperating here. It'll be like I'm using Heal Pulse!"

Cobalt tilted his head suddenly. " _Really?"_

"What?"

" _Hold on, I'm talking with the Horsea. Yeah, that's their name. You humans are weird with naming things."_

"I mean, it's a seahorse pokémon, so why not Horsea?"

Cobalt rolled his eyes. " _Yeah? Okay. I mean I don't have a problem with it. Hey Sapph, you've got a new pokémon."_

"Chotto mate." Sapphire held up a hand. "What?"

" _Just what I said. Horsea is pretty grateful that you helped her, so she wants to become your pokémon."_

Sapphire groaned. "Okay, I'm alright with this, but at this point, I will now have more pokémon that I befriended and caught instead of battled. Isn't that the whole point of being a trainer, the battling?!" Cobalt snickered at him.

Willow looked over. "Another new pokémon?" She smiled and shook her head. "You're really trying to get ahead aren't you?"

"Hey, it's not like I'm trying here!" He turned back the seahorse and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm completely fine with it, but only if you're sure." When the seahorse nodded, he grinned, "Alright, welcome to the team! Any ideas for a nickname?"

Everyone threw a few suggestions out before Sapphire snapped his fingers. "Hey, what about Wave? We talked about nicknaming Blast that, but it sounded too much like a water-type thing." Horsea thought it over, before trilling, which Cobalt translated as a yes. "Cool, welcome to the team, Wave!"

Wave trilled happily, and Sapphire grabbed an empty pokéball, lightly tapping Wave with it. The ball flashed and sucked her in, before clicking after a few seconds. The ball vanished since he already had six pokémon with him, and a few seconds later Wave swam through a tube, splashing back up in the pool.

"So where do the pokémon get transported?"

"Depends on the pokémon, Cous! If they have to be in water like fish-shaped pokémon, then they're transported into the ocean!"

"Interesting system, Professor," Willow replied.

"Pretty sweet," Sapphire nodded. "Anyway, I guess I have to think up a team rotation now. That might be hard to keep track of, but I'm sure I'll get it down. I want everyone to have a good amount of time on the team."

" _What about me?"_

"Nah, you're my starter. You're, like, obligated to always have a spot on the team." Cobalt puffed out his chest in pride, and Sapphire snorted as Willow giggled. "Anyway, I guess I'm gonna go head home and wash up. Afterward, I'll come back and we can start training, 'kay Wave?" Wave nodded, doing a flip underwater. "Coolio, I'll see you later Wave, bye Professor!"

"See ya, Cous!" Willow followed him out, and they walked back outside. When they exited the lab, Fletchinder alighted on his head, dropping his glasses onto his face.

"Hey, Fletchinder, decide on a nickname?"

Fletchinder chirped, and Cobalt nodded. "He says he wants to be called Inferno."

"Aw, that sounds awesome! Okay, welcome to the team Inferno!" Inferno chirped agi and flew off, letting Sapphire and Willow walk back into town.

"How far away is your house?" Sapphire asked as they left the ranch.

"It's only a few houses over from yours, not very far."

"Cool, I'll walk you there then."

"O-oh, you don't have to do that…" seemed like Willow's shy side that she'd told him about was coming back. Sapphire wondered why, before shrugging.

"Nah, it's fine. It's on the way anyway! Huh, way, anyway…" Willow almost seemed disappointed by his answer for _some_ reason, but they quickly lapsed back into a friendly silence. Cobalt face-palmed and muttered something about him being dense, but he wasn't sure why.

They eventually reached Willow's house, it looked a bit like his, he supposed, only some of the colors were switched, to slightly darker, greener colors. Sapphire walked her up the stairs, where she turned around and smiled at him. "Thanks for walking me home Sapphire, it was fun to travel with you."

"Eh, it's no problem. It was fun! Want to travel more together when we travel to the next island?"

Willow nodded, "I would like that. It sounds exciting."

"Yeah, I have a habit of attracting trouble. Did I tell you about the time I was chased by a bunch of Zubat out of a cave when I was eleven with Anthony?"

"I don't think so…"

"Well, that's a story for another time then."

She nodded, and they stood there awkwardly for a moment before Sapphire coughed lightly and turned to go, until Willow quickly stepped forward and hugged him. He froze up for a moment and blushed, before hugging her back and glaring at Cobalt who snickered at him. She let go and smiled at him embarrassed, before stepping into her house and waving, shutting the door.

Before Cobalt could do anything, Sapphire pointed a finger at him. "Shut it."

" _Hey, I didn't say anything."_

"Yeah, I'm sure."

" _Dude, she's interested. She_ hugged _you."_

"Friends hug literally all the time. Or are you saying that you're interested in me?"

" _Nah, all I know is that dating starts with hugging."_

"Yeah, and what comes next?"

" _I have no idea, you think I'm some expert on romance? I know it starts with hugging, then leads to eggs."_

"Okay, that is a HUGE leap! What are you, my mother? You want grandkids already?"

" _One of them better be named after me!"_ They bickered back and forth as they returned home until Sapphire opened the front door and looked around.

"Ma, I'm home!"

"Sapphire!" His mother exited her room, and ran up to him, hugging him. She then turned and hugged Cobalt as well. "You're home!"

"Yep, and let me tell you, traveling is _hard._ Rivers are NOTHING like baths!"

"Of course not, rivers are freezing." His mother rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "I was a trainer, I would know this."

"I know mom, but still! I need to bring, like, a portable heater to drop in whatever river I'm swimming in!"

"That may just fry the heater, dear."

"Psh, you don't know that. Electronics totally can survive in water."

"Zzt, I'm not sure how comfortable I am being in your Pokédex now…"

"Stop being a baby, Rotom." Sapphire snickered to himself as Rotom buzzed nervously in his pocket.

"Now, you should go take a bath. I know I always enjoyed one when I got home from a journey," his mother told him.

"Roger that," he said. He went to his room to throw his bag down on his bed and grabbed some new clothes from his closet, just a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.

The bath itself was relaxing, and he may or may not have fallen asleep in it, due to the fact that rivers suck for bathing. About thirty minutes later Sapphire rinsed himself off and dried himself, before putting on his new clothes. He threw his old ones onto his bed, before grabbing his bag and Cobalt from the kitchen counter where he was trying to sneak some cookies.

"See ya, mom!"

"Bye, dear!"

" _My cookies!"_

Sapphire rolled his eyes and wandered down to the ranch part of Professor Kukui's lab, and stopped when he reached the ocean. He looked out over the water, trying to spot Wave. Eventually, he saw her, or at least he thought he did, seeing as how there was a small group of Horsea's and other Water-types. "Wave!"

Hearing her new nickname, Wave swam away from the group of pokémon and trolled when she neared the beach. Sapphire grinned and knelt down, petting her. "Heya Wave, having fun?" Cobalt translated her yes, and he grinned. "Coolio, I was just going to introduce you to the team, then talk about training."

Sapphire reached down to his belt, before grabbing everyone's pokéballs. "Alright everyone, come on out!" There were five flashes, and everyone was popped out of their balls. "Okay everybody, this is Wave, our newest teammate! Say hello!"

Everyone said some manner of hello, or at least Sapphire assumes they did, although for some reason most of them groaned when Spooks spoke. Weird. "Alright, next up on the agenda is training for the battle with Kahuna Hala! His pokémon are fighting-types, so Chrysant, Spooks, you guys aren't going to be fighting."

" _They're asking why."_

"Spooks, you know why, even if their Fighting-type moves can't hit you, most of your moves are either ghost or dark type, so they either wouldn't even hit or wouldn't be as effective. So for now, you're training is going to be in learning some new moves. If you can learn some different typed moves by the battle, then I'll use you. As for Chrysant, everything he throws at you will be super effective. I don't even want to know how much damage… whatever the fighting type Z-Move is called would do to you."

Chrysant barked her acknowledgment while Spooks pouted. He turned to Blast. "Blast, you have a type advantage, so it's very likely I'll use you in the battle. Type isn't everything of course, but for now, while we're all still not very skilled, we'll take all the advantages we can get. Unless, of course, you aren't comfortable battling?"

Blast said something quietly, and Cobalt nodded. " _She said that she'll train, but if she doesn't feel comfortable by the time of the battle then she asks that you not use her."_

Sapphire smiled and scratched Blast behind her ears. "No problem Blast, I don't want to make you battle before you're comfortable doing so. As for you guys, all of you are neutrally typed against the fighting type, so I can use any of you, It's just going to come down to who has the best moves and what strategies we come up with for the battle." Each pokémon gave out a small cheer. "Of course, Wave, you'll have to train extra hard if you want a chance to fight, since you're the newest, but me and Cobalt will work with you so you can learn faster!"

Wave gave a little underwater flip and trilled happily. "Alright everybody," Sapphire clapped his hands together and grinned. "Let's do some training!"

* * *

Guzma groaned as he sat upside down in his chair, the pile of Buginium Z glinting next to him. "How did three trainers beat you and two dozen grunts?!"

In front of him, Plumeria shrugged. "One of them took out most of the grunts, while the other two had their pokémon team up on mine. You know how our grunts are."

"I mean duh, but…" He got up and waved his arms in her face, suddenly yelling. "You're the top fighter in Team Skull, right below me! How'd they beat you?!"

Plumeria just leaned back slightly, used to her bosses outbursts, and held up a Buginium Z. "A Z-Move and very good strategy. It was actually kind of impressive, considering how early on in the island challenge they were, or at least I assume they were. Besides that, I let them go. We'd captured enough water types, and in fact, captured more than we thought we would get. We wouldn't have been able to bring them all back here, so I let them free the rest."

Guzma theatrically sighed and slumped away, looking out the window into the ruined and abandoned town Team Skull made their base in. "Well, don't let it happen again! If they interrupt any other operations, you don't leave until you've completed the job, their pokémon are beaten down, or your pokémon are!"

"I don't think they're going to be beating me anytime soon, but sure. By the way, the hell does she need all these pokémon for?"

Guzma groaned again and spun in a circle, letting his arms wave out. "I've got no clue! She keeps saying she'll only use beautiful, powerful pokémon, and any pokémon not worthy she just throws them out! At least some of the grunts get some new pokémon when she's done with the picking."

"Hm. I'm going to go relax. Send a grunt for me when you need something else, Guz."

Guzma flopped back into his chair and waved her out, propping his legs up so he was sitting sideways. Out walked Plumeria, and he let his head flop back. So some trainers beat the crap out of one of her pokémon? Even if they weren't that tough now, they could be a problem in the future. Maybe he should go out on one of their next operations himself…

* * *

 **So yeah, Sapphire's gonna be doing some training in preparation for the battle, and gets two new pokémon. And yet still he has less pokémon than most people who've gotten to this point of the game, haha. And a small segment from our favorite buggy boi Guzma, and second in command Plumeria. What in the horking heck was that about.**

 **Anyway, review and tell me your thoughts if you'd like, even if it's just a "Nice job old chap, pip pip cheerio, eh?" Also, who else is excited for Pokémon Sword and Shield? I know what the starters look like, but I swear to god if the new fire type starter is a fire-fighting I'm going to go crazy. Either way, I can't afford to buy a Switch to play it on so I'll just steal my friend's Switch I suppose, haha.**

 **Anyway, teams so far:**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **-Fletchinder, Inferno**

 **-Horsea, Wave**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**

 **See y'all next time.**


	11. Chapter 11: What a Grand Trial

**Apologies for the delay, school stuff slowed me down, as well as the fact that I somehow lost HALF THE DAMN CHAPTER but whatever, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: What a Grand Trial

Sapphire laughed as Wave shot several bubbles at him, which he dodged. "You're gonna have to be faster if you want to hit anyone with that! Even I can dodge these!" Wave seemed to fume and fired another Bubble attack, which Sapphire easily ducked under.

Cobalt watched on from the sidelines, but with his eyes closed. Sapphire had instructed him to practice dodging, and funnily enough, he would be doing that by meditating. By focusing on sensing aura, he could monitor the aura of everything around him, even with his eyes closed. He could sense attacks coming and dodge them, as well as watch the glows of aura that were Sapphire, Wave, and Wave's attacks.

Cobalt snorted as Sapphire was blasted backward by a Water Gun attack. He sputtered through the water before waving his hands. "Alright, alright, ya got me!" The water stopped, and Sapphire got up wiping the water from his face. "Nicely done, but I'm going to be running around a lot quicker now, so keep trying to hit me!"

" _What are they doing?"_

Cobalt opened his eyes to look at Cream. " _Training for the battle against Hala of course."_

" _Okay… but, why is that Horsea shooting water at Mr. Sapphire?"_

" _We're training Wave, that's her nickname by the way, to be quicker and shoot her attacks more forcefully. For now, that just means practicing them over and over again with some weights on."_

" _Oh. Okay. But why does Mr. Sapphire have weights on?"_

" _He's also trying to train himself."_

" _Oh."_

" _And before you ask, I'm meditating to practice my aura sensing, so I am training."_

" _I-I wasn't thinking that you weren't training…"_

" _Uh-Huh, sure."_ Cobalt snickered and grinned to show he was joking. " _So why aren't you out training over by Willow?"_

" _I was, but I got tired. Ms. Willow was asking me to form as many Psychic Spheres as I could and manipulate them to fly around me so I would get experience in creating them and controlling them better. I did okay, but got tired really quickly…"_

" _I'm sure you did fine Cream. After all, I remember the fight at the festival you were throwing those things around like crazy!"_ Cream blushed in embarrassment and Cobalt grinned. " _Can't wait to see someone else on the receiving end of those things."_

There was a startled yell, and both pokémon looked over to see Sapphire on his butt, holding his hands up to block a spray of water from hitting his face. "Ack- Wave, quit it! You got me!"

" _Ha! Try moving faster next time, Sapph!"_

"See the finger I'm holding up Cobalt? It's not the nice one!"

Cobalt laughed as Sapphire was hit with another stream of water and was subsequently knocked over, sputtering. Cream seemed embarrassed for Sapphire, even as Cobalt snickered. " _Um, shouldn't we see if he's okay?"_

" _Nah, Sapphire's tougher than you think, he can take a few Water Gun and Bubble attacks. Hey, Sapph, need a hand!?"_

"I'm good!"

" _See?"_

Cream giggled quietly. " _You two are getting better at understanding each other then?"_

" _Funny that you ask, we had a breakthrough recently."_ Cobalt puffed out his chest proudly. " _Sapphire is totally able to completely understand me because I'm so awesome at translating myself."_

There was a snort from Sapphire's direction, and Cobalt rolled his eyes. " _Alright, and Sapphire's learning more about aura or whatever."_

" _That's good."_ There was a skewed silence for a moment.

" _So what strategies are you going to use for the battle?"_

" _I'm not sure, I'm just trying to use my attacks better…"_

" _Fair enough."_

"Alright, guys, time for a break!" Cobalt looked over to see Sapphire removing his shirt and wringing the water out of it. "I'll make lunch, you guys relax!" His various Pokémon called out thanks, and Sapphire tossed his wet shirt at Cobalt. "Mind drying that off?"

" _Make me extra food."_

"Yeah, yeah." Sapphire waved a hand nonchalantly as he went to grab food and cooking supplies from his bag. Cobalt snorted and lit a leg on fire, laying the shirt down nearby so it would dry in the heat while not catching fire.

" _Why don't you grab Willow and the rest of your team, so we can all eat together?"_ Cream nodded and walked away to gather her team. Meanwhile, Chrysant began bouncing around his body, with Claws looking on exasperated.

" _Why do you get to sit down for training but we run around a lot?"_

" _Because, Chrysant, that's how I train aura."_ Cobalt grinned at Claws, who just sighed tiredly, having become the designated handler of Chrysant when Sapphire was busy.

" _Oh, okay!"_

" _Besides,"_ Claws spoke, " _I was the one running around, you were lobbing rocks at me."_

" _Sapphire said that you have to be really quick and good at dodging if you want to keep up with fast fighting-types! Besides, I can't fight in this battle so practicing my aim will help in the next fight!"_ Claws just shook his head and curled up in the hot sand, trying to rest as Chrysant began bounding around him instead.

There was the sound of flapping and Inferno alighted on Claws, nipping at his ears and making Claws hiss in return. " _What is this annoying bird doing?!"_

" _Oh, that's Inferno. Hey, Inferno. Where were you earlier when we were discussing training?"_

" _Out for a flight. This place is different from the nest back home, did you know that there's some weird cave overlooking the ranch?"_

" _Really?"_

" _Yeah, there was some kind of crystal in it. Definitely weird."_

" _Crystal?"_ Claws' tail flicked, " _did it look anything like the crystal that is in Sapphire's bracelet?"_

Inferno turned to look at Sapphire, who was making sandwiches. " _Actually… yeah, a bit. Although it was bluer, and the symbol looked different. I didn't get a close look at it though."_

" _There's a Z-Crystal next to the ranch?"_

Spooks hovered over, Blast flying right behind him, having heard the question. " _Really? Is there a trial there?"_

" _I don't think there is…"_ Cobalt hummed. " _Maybe we should go check it out."_

Chrysant gasped. " _Like an adventure?!"_

" _Yes, like an adventure,"_ Claws tiredly said.

" _Too bad I can't go, I have to stay in the water,"_ Wave said as she swam over glumly, getting as close to them as the ocean would allow.

" _Why don't you and Inferno stay here, you can keep training with Sapph' while we go check out if there really is a Z-Crystal."_

Inferno shrugged. " _Alright, fine with me."_ He pointed a wing towards the large mountain to the west, pretty near to the lab. " _It was in there, but there might be an entrance near the ground."_

" _Alright, thanks, Inferno."_ Cobalt got up and put out his leg, while also grabbing Sapphire's shirt. " _Looks like it's pretty dry. Why don't you all go and find an entrance to the place while I tell Sapph' what's happening."_ they all wandered off towards the mountain, while Cobalt walked towards Sapphire, who was now cooking with Willow. Sapphire, of course, was oblivious to how Willow was blushing over his shirtless-ness. For someone who had a crush on her, he sure seemed dense sometimes.

" _Sapphire, me, Spooks, Claws, Chrysant, Blast, and Storm are going to explore that mountain for a bit. If we aren't back by the time lunch is ready just save it for us, and you can train Inferno and Wave while you wait."_

"Alright, no prob bud." He grinned and rubbed him between the ears. "And it's 'the others and I.'"

" _Please, you never remember to say it that way either."_

"Eh, fair enough. Have fun!"

Cobalt threw him his shirt and walked towards the mountain, where the team had gathered in front of a small entrance in the rock. Spooks grinned as he arrived, " _Ready to ROCK and roll?"_

Cue a chorus of groans. " _Whatever, let's go in."_ Cobalt lead the way, jumping over several rocks that were in front of the entrance. Claws and Chrysant followed just as easily, while Spooks and Blast just flew over, with Spooks dragging Storm along.

They wandered through the cave they had entered, with Chrysant looking around panting. " _This is a cool cave!"_

" _I'm pretty sure most caves look like this,"_ Claws replied.

" _I can confirm that,"_ Blast quietly nodded.

They continued through the cave silently, until a rumble underneath their feet- well, under the grounded Pokémon's feet- stopped them. " _Anyone else feel that?"_

" _Is a boss fight coming up?"_

" _Our lives aren't video games Chrysant, there isn't going to be a-"_ Claws was cut off when a giant Onix, a familiar Pokémon to Cobalt from back home in Kanto, erupted from the ground in front of them. " _I stand corrected."_

" _SCATTER!"_ The group of six split up as the Onix slammed down into the ground. The nearly thirty-foot long rock snake swam through the ground, before crashing back upwards underneath Chrysant.

" _Whee!"_

" _Chrysant!"_ Claws began scaling the snake towards Chrysant who was now holding onto the Onix's horn and laughing. Claws leaped up and built up some fire in his mouth, before shooting it all into one of the Onix's eyes. The Onix roared in anger, shaking the cavern, before slamming into a wall.

The impact knocked Chrysant loss and she quickly fell, before Blast flew up and caught her, struggling to flap her wings fast enough to hold their combined weight. Claws himself just fell to the ground, bouncing once or twice.

" _You alright?"_ Claws nodded at Cobalt's question and slowly got up. " _Good, now, how the heck are we going to take this thing down?"_

" _Overwhelming FIREpower!"_ Spooks laughed and spewed noxious gases out towards the Rock-type, and Claws, after he stopped groaning at the pun, spit out several Embers at the gas. The gas quickly exploded, and the cave shook again.

* * *

"Row!"

"Chinder, Fletchinder!"

Sapphire looked over at Willow as Inferno flew around Rowlet at high speeds, confusing the poor grass type. "So, what do you think my pokémon are up to in there?"

Willow shrugged. "Probably not much. I've heard that Ten Carat Hill is a quiet glade."

"You've been in there?"

"Not personally, but people that have been in there say it's very peaceful.

* * *

Cobalt yelped in panic as several boulders fell around him, the Onix using Rock Slide. " _Force Palm!"_ He slammed a glowing palm into the snake's side with a burst of aura, but it only irritated the large pokémon.

It swept its tail around and slammed it into him, causing him to fly back before Spooks caught him. " _Have a nice flight?"_

" _Yeah, it was wonderful."_ Cobalt dusted off his torso, wincing as he felt a bruise begin to form. The snake above them turned its attention to Claws and Chrysant, but before it could slam into them, Blast flew up and screeched, a Supersonic attack impacting with the Onix, and confusing it so it slammed into a cave wall.

Blast cheered at having helped until a rock shaken loss from Onix's impact threw her downwards with a screech. Storm lazily shot out some webbing and caught her before doing the same onto Onix's form to stick the Onix down.

The Onix thrashed around under the webbing before its mouth lit up with black, dark yellow, and blue flames. A moment later and a Dragon Breath attack burned through the webbing. Cobalt slouched forward, sighing. " _By the Creator…"_

Cobalt bound forward to attack, and Spooks flew forwards beneath him, grabbing his leg and spinning to increase their momentum. Spooks let go and Cobalt was launched forward, spinning and landing a hard kick on the Onix's face. The Rock Snake reared back roaring, and Chrysant ran underneath it, creating several Stone Edge pillars, knocking it off balance.

" _Spooks, as much gas as you can produce, aim for the mouth!"_ Spooks flew forward and belched into the Onix's mouth, and when it tried to bite down on him in return he cackled and phased through him. The Onix howled as the foul smelling poison gas flowed through its body, quickly poisoning it.

" _Chrysant, make a stone shield for everyone, as thick as you can make it!"_ Chrysant barked an affirmative, and seconds later thick pieces of rock shot up around the rest of the team. Cobalt grimaced as he looked at the poison gas now spilling from the Onix's mouth, before shaking his head. " _This is gonna suck…"_

He bounded forward and quickly climbed the boulders that made up Onix's body, before leaping for its mouth. The sickly purple gas made him gag for a moment before his body flashed as he activated endure, and he then grit his teeth as he used Ignition. The gas all around him ignited, and Cobalt felt himself get blown back and out of the Rock-type's mouth. The Onix roared in pain as the explosion followed the gas through its entire body, and it quickly dove back underground, 'swimming' away.

Everyone waited for a moment to see if the pokémon would return, but when the tremors died down and the Onix did not, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Well, most of them did, Storm still looked bored and Spooks still was laughing. " _Okay, we're getting through here as quickly as possible. Let's go."_

They began walking again and soon began ascending as the ground sloped upwards. Eventually, they reached an outcropping of rock, that overlooked the ranch and parts of Hau'oli village. At the edge of the outcrop, a familiar statue stood, with a glinting crystal inside. Claws flicked his tail, " _so there is a Z-Crystal up here."_

" _Wonder why that is…"_ Cobalt hopped up and grabbed the small crystal, marveling at it. It looked similar to the Normalium, except, as Inferno had said, it was a darker blue, and the symbol inside was different. Instead of a small circle with two half circles around it, it had instead two small wings in the center of the gem.

Cobalt grabbed it and jumped down, showing it to the others. " _Weird that it was just sitting there, with no trial around it or whatever."_

Chrysant hopped around Cobalt happily. " _What type is it?"_

Spooks turned upside down as he looked at it. " _It has wings doesn't it?"_

Blast fluttered down to look at it, tilting her head. " _Yeah, so probably flying type. What would that make it, Flyanium? Flyinium?"_

" _Probably something weird like that. What do you think, Storm?"_

"… _dark blue…"_

" _Well, that's about what I expected out of him. Let's get going then, guys."_

* * *

"So, think we'll have to use it in the trial?" Sapphire closed one eye and held the gemstone up, looking at it. Given the fact that it was pretty see-through, the sun's light highlighted the wings inside.

Cobalt shrugged from Sapphire's shoulder. " _Maybe. Considering Fighting-types are weak to Flying-types we could. It would definitely work better than trying to use the Normalium."_

Sapphire snorted. "Yeah, I can imagine it now. 'Let's try using a not-very-effective Z-Move on your final pokémon, I'm sure that won't cost us the battle!'" He rounded a bend on route one and saw the steps to Iko town.

They quickly climbed the steps as they continued talking. "Anyway, everyone knows their roles then?"

" _Yep. Depending on the type of battle, everyone knows who's going to battle and who isn't."_

"Sweet. How _do_ you guys hear what's happening around you while you're in your pokéballs?"

" _Hey, I don't know how they work so don't ask me."_ They shrugged at each other before Sapphire turned and saw Professor Kukui and Willow waiting for him a bit further into Iki town.

"Hey, Sapphire! I'm looking forward to seeing what moves you and your pokémon put your hearts and souls into, now that you've gone and completed your first trial!"

"Ha!" Sapphire grinned and rubbed Cobalt's head. We've been training up for this, we're ready for whatever Hala's got!"

Lillie smiled, "I'm not a trainer, so I'm sure I don't really understand how hard you must have trained, but even I think you'll do great!" Nebulous and Nebbles rumbled from inside the bag, and he grinned.

"Thanks, Lillie. You two, Nebby, Nebbles," he laughed.

"So, where's Willow? She doing some extra training?"

"Pretty much, she said she wanted to wrap up some last things with her team."

"Well let's hope she uses Extreme Speed to catch up to us then!" Just after he said that Willow ascended the stairwell and noticed them.

"Oh, hello everyone." She walked over and smiled. "Was Sapphire getting ready for the Grand Trial?"

"Yeah, But if you'd like to go first, you can."

"No, no, it's fine. First come after all." She smiled and nodded at him.

Kukui nodded. "That's settled then. Now, Sapphire." He crossed his arms and his grin turned more serious. "The Melemele Kahuna is strong, Cousin. He pushes his fighting-types to their limits, so don't expect this to be easy."

Sapphire nodded, clenching a fist in front of his face. "I know. We're ready."

" _You bet!"_

"Good luck," Willow smiled. He nodded back, and Kukui stepped aside to reveal that Kahuna Hala was waiting near the stage that Sapphire, Willow, and Hau had their festival battle upon. As Sapphire walked up, he noticed that Hala's presence was different. The large, jovial man had a more serious aura around him, but that only made Sapphire more excited for the coming fight.

"Sapphire. Congratulations on clearing your first trial in the Verdant Cavern, very well done. Now, you are here for the Grand Trial, correct? Are you and your Riolu ready for me?"

Sapphire grinned and made a couple of finger guns. "Definitely!"

Hala narrowed his eyes, before bursting out in laughter. "I like your spirit!" He smiled widely. "I have been waiting for this. Onto the stage!" Sapphire nodded and walked up the steps onto his side of the stage, tapping his fingers against a pokéball. Hala walked onto his side and slammed his hands together.

"Allow me to properly greet the young adventurers embarking on their island challenge! I am Hala, Kahuna Of Melemele island! The final Trial of Melemele island is a three-on-three pokémon battle against me, the Kahuna!" As Sapphire nodded, Hala got into a battle stance. "You have been entrusted with the Sparkling Stone by Tapu Koko! So show me your team's full power! I will go all out as well!"

A referee stood at the side of the arena and raised two flags. One was blue, on Sapphire's side, while the other was red and on Hala's side. "This will be a three-on-three, no switching allowed. Are both trainers ready?" They both nodded. "Then send out your pokémon, and let the Grand Trial's first round, Riolu versus Machop, begin!"

Hala tossed a pokéball forward, and out popped a small, grey, and humanoid looking pokémon. It had three ridges over its head, with red eyes that peered at Sapphire. Sapphire grinned at the pokémon, before holding his arm out for Cobalt to run down. "Cobalt, knock 'em dead!" Cobalt grinned and ran down his arm, performing a flip and landing in a crouch opposite from Hala. "Rotom, what pokémon is that?"

"Zzt," Rotom buzzed out of his bag, scanning it. "That izz a machop. Pure Fighting-typezz, machop train their musclezz so that they can lift many timezz their own weight. Their muscles also never cramp, nor tire."

"Alright, if they can lift a lot then their punches will probably do some damage. Cobalt, prioritize dodging over our Counters!"

" _Roger!"_

"No, I'm Sapphire." Cobalt gave him the stink eye for that one, before charging at the Machop. The pokémon reacted by dropping into a stance, and when Cobalt attacked with a Blaze Kick, the pokémon grabbed his leg and slammed a Karate Chop into Cobalt's stomach. Cobalt was thrown into the ground yelling in pain before sweeping Machop's legs. The Fighting-type tried some type of slam as it fell, but Cobalt ducked out of the way.

As Machop rose to their feet, Cobalt shot forward with a Bullet Punch, slamming several jabs and kicks into the Machop's stomach and face, before delivering a powerful knee powered by a Blaze Kick directly to the stomach. Machop skid back and bent over, letting Cobalt shoot forward and do a backflip, planting a Blaze Kick directly in the Machop's face. Machop flew back and tumbled a few times, before getting up again, but slightly slower.

"Nice job Cobalt!"

" _I am the kung-fu master!"_

"And you made it lame, well done."

" _Hey, I learned that from you. You make everything lame."_

"Oi!" The Machop was charging at Cobalt now, trying to sweep his legs but Cobalt just dodged backward. Machop threw a jab, so Cobalt responded with a kick, blocking the punch with his leg. They began exchanging attacks, with Cobalt blocking each attack with a kick. Suddenly Machop's fist lit on fire, so Cobalt quickly followed with a flaming kick sending out a shockwave of fire.

 _"Ha! hahaha,"_ Cobalt let out grunts of exertion with each kick before he spun and slammed a side kick into Machop's head. As the pokémon stumbled back, he jumped forward and slammed an axe-kick into them. Machop slammed into the stage, before scrambling up to throw another punch. Cobalt jumped away, but Machop followed and threw a second punch covered in sparks of electricity. "Look out, it knows… Uh, Thunderpunch?" Rotom nodded. "Yeah, that!"

Cobalt dodged away from the punch, and Machop quickly followed up with several more. While Cobalt has been fighting earlier he looked smooth and fluid with his attacks, like a dancer. Machop, well they still moved smoothly, but it was using a boxing style, throwing quick powerful jabs while keeping its guard up. Cobalt had to keep backing up to find an opening, and almost fell when they reached the edge of the stage.

"Machop, Close Combat, throw them off!"

"Oh crap." Cobalt tried to move around Machop, but the pokémon closed in too quickly and began a barrage of attacks that began wearing down Cobalt's defenses. "Endure!" Cobalt grit his fangs and his eyes flashed as he activated Endure, but even if he wouldn't be knocked unconscious now, he could still be thrown off.

" _Ideas!?"_ Sapphire bit the inside of his cheek, thinking.

There, the Machop was beginning to wind up for a hit! "Force Palm, right underneath you!" Cobalt didn't hesitate, slamming his paws into the stage and unleashing a blast of aura, destroying the wood. The explosion sent him upwards and he sent another pulse of aura out to propel him back into the stage, while simultaneously pushing Machop off, who was already unbalanced from the explosion.

Cobalt skid to a stop, and gave a small smirk and salute, even as he breathed heavily. _"Arrivederci."_

The referee on the side lifted a blue flag, on Sapphire's side of the arena. "Machop is out by knockout!"

"Nice! Awesome job Cobalt! Come back and rest!" Cobalt jumped back up onto Sapphire's shoulder, sitting down.

"Kahuna Hala, send out your next pokémon!" The Kahuna nodded at the Referee's words, returning Machop before tossing forward another pokéball. Out of this one, a round yellow pokémon appeared, landing with a _thud_ on the stage. It had several black markings on its body and had a happy expression on its face.

"Rotom?"

"Zzt, Makuhita, the Guts pokémon! They are known to never give up, and its sturdy body allows it to wether attacks with ease!"

"Alright, Claws, You're up!" Sapphire tossed Claws' pokéball forward, releasing the Fire-type. A moment later another pokéball popped open and Chrysant popped out onto the stage next to Sapphire.

Cobalt raised an eyebrow before shrugging. " _She wants to watch Claws fight."_ Chrysant barked happily, so Sapphire shrugged as well.

"Sure. Alright, let's do this Claws!"

"Round two, Litten versus Makuhita, begin!" Claws flicked his tail and began circling Makuhita. The pokémon just stood there, still happy, until Claws pounced from behind. Near instantly Makuhita's arms thrust out, slamming into Claws and sending him skidding back across the stage.

"Alright, he's fast and pretty powerful too. Thought it'd be slow with how… er, round it is." Claws shot back up and breathed in, before spitting several Embers at the Fighting-type. The pokémon took the small fireballs easily, before shooting forward and its fists turned grey and slammed into Claws.

"Zzt, Makuhita haz the ability Thick Fat, meaning Fire and Ice-type attackz do lezz damage."

"Oh that's just wonderful," Sapphire muttered. "Alright, use less Fire-type attacks! Fake Out!" Claws dodged a strike and feinted towards Makuhita's legs, before jumping up and attacking its face. He then bit down using Crunch, and Makuhita slammed an Arm Thrust into his stomach, throwing him off. Claws bounced once, before catching himself.

Makuhita shot forward and tackled Claws before he could react, grabbing him and putting him into a submission hold. Claws yowled as he was pressed into the ground, feeling Makuhita's weight press into him. Chrysant barked, worried, and Sapphire threw a hand out. "Claws, Immolation!" Claws hissed and set his fur on fire, burning Makuhita. Even through his Thick Fat ability, the fire burned hot, with Claws being powered by his own Blaze ability.

Makuhita tried closing in again, and Claws jumped back spitting stronger Ember attacks at the pokémon. On his side, Sapphire bit his lip. "Okay- looks like we're coming up with something new then… Claws, focus your Ember attacks! Instead of separate Embers, focus them together!"

Claws dodged to the side, building up flame in his mouth. "Lit, litten…"

" _He says that trying to make a new move in the middle of battle is probably a stupid idea."_

"Well I'm occasionally a stupid person," He responded, grinning. "Now, the condensed Embers, spit them all out as one, like a flaming hairball!" Claw flicked his tail before shrugging, barfing out the ball of flame. It was large, growing to the size of his boy a second or two after exiting Claws' mouth.

"Makuhita, Endure!" The Fireball slammed into Makuhita, just after it used Endure, and powered by Blaze, it did massive damage even through the Endure and Thick Fat ability. Makuhita skid back, stumbling and almost tripping. Before it could recover, Claws jumped on it and shot another Fireball point blank, knocking out the pokémon.

"Makuhita is knocked out!"

"Alright! Great job Claws!" Claws looked very smug, walking back lazily towards him. Chrysant barked excited, jumping around Claws who just began nodding along to whatever she was saying. "Claws, do you want to try and keep fighting? If you rest up you might lose you Blaze ability, but at the same time you'll be able to take a few more hits if I send you out again."

Claws purred something and Cobalt translated, " _He says he can keep going."_

"Alright, we're ready for the next round!"

On the sidelines, Willow raised an eyebrow. "Did he just teach a pokémon a new move in the middle of battle?"

Lillie shrugged. "I… think so."

The referee nodded again, "Kahuna Hala, send out your final pokémon!" The Kahuna grinned and sent out his last pokémon, laughing.

"You're doing very well so far Sapphire! Now, here is my last pokémon!" Out of the pokéball, a large crab-like pokémon appeared, landing on the stage with a _clack_. Most of its shell was purple, with blue and yellow highlights, and had two long, yellow antenna over its eyes. Sapphire humorously noted that one of its eyes was half closed, giving it the appearance of a black eye. Its two frontmost legs had pincers that looked suspiciously like boxing gloves and was shadow boxing as it waited for the call to begin.

"Rotom?"

"Zzt, Crabrawler, the boxing pokémon. It iz a very competitive pokémon, whose pincerz are capable of splitting treez, but are usually used for punching instead, to knock down berriez."

"So, I'm guessing water type, since, ya know, crab. Or at least, it knows some water type moves." Cobalt murmured his agreement. "Alright Claws, let's do this!"

"Third round, Litten versus Crabrawler, begin!" Claws bound forward and ducked under the first jab from the Boxing pokémon, scratching at its face. It brought its second pincer up to block and slapped the Fire Cat pokémon away. Claws flew across the stage and tumbled end over end, making Sapphire wince.

"Okay, that looked like it did way to much damage for a slap."

"Zzt, it waz most likely Crabhammer, a Water-type move."

"Ah." Claws struggled back up to his feet, shaking himself off. Crabrawler closed in quickly, and Claws hunkered down, jumping over the first jab and ducking under another, using Crunch on one of Crabrawler's legs. The pokémon winced and tried to bat away Claws, who dodged backward.

Crabrawler powered up another Crabhammer, but before it could approach, Claws lowered his body and hissed loudly eyes narrow and promising danger. Crabrawler hesitated for a moment, before resuming its attack. "What was that?"

"Zzt, most likely Claws unlocked his hidden ability, Intimidate. Intimidate lowers an opponent's attack power."

"Sweet! Claws, use Growl next to lower their attack!" Claws dodged a strike narrowly and Growled, making Crabrawler even weaker. But before he could capitalize, Crabrawler pointed its pincers at him and unleashed a Water Gun, washing Claws away. Claws rolled across the stage, coming to a halt. "Claws!"

Claws began getting up, before slumping back down. The referee watched for a moment, before nodding. "Litten is knocked out, Sapphire, send out your next pokémon!" Claws was quickly returned, along with Chrysant, and Sapphire bit his lip.

"Alright, should I send out you, or…?"

" _Save him. Crabrawler looks pretty healthy, even with our ace they probably won't knock it out. If I don't defeat it, it'll be weakened enough."_

Sapphire nodded, and let Cobalt run down his arm, onto the stage. "Let's do this then, Cobalt!"

The referee lifted his flags again. "Fourth round, Riolu versus Crabrawler, begin!" Cobalt shot forward and started with a kick, slamming against Crabrawler's raised pincer. He then used the pincer as a pad to launch from, landing behind the pokémon, and firing a Force Palm into its back.

Its shell easily deflected the attack, and it spun to try and deliver a Crabhammer to Cobalt's face. Cobalt backflipped over the attack and dodged the consecutive jabs the pokémon threw at him before he deflected one and slammed a Force Palm into its unprotected underside. The crab stumbled back and Cobalt began a series of consecutive flaming kicks before the crab grabbed his leg and slammed him into the stage.

Cobalt grunted and as the crab lifted him again, he heard Sapphire call to him. "Enduring Counter!" He grinned and focused, his body being covered by a red aura.

"Crabrawler, let go!"

" _Too late!"_ Cobalt was slammed into the ground again, and he pumped all of the damage into a single flaming fist. " _Whoo!"_ There was an explosion of flame, and both pokémon were thrown back. Both pokémon quickly got up, and both were breathing heavily.

"Alright, that got 'em good, Cobalt! Keep it up!" Before Cobalt could respond, Crabrawler began glowing a deep burgundy color. "Uh…"

Across from them, Hau finished the pose to activate his Fightinium-Z, and the rest of his aura flowed into Crabrawler making the pokémon glow even brighter. " _Oh crap."_

"Cobalt, Endure!" Cobalt glowed a brighter, purer red, before Crabrawler launched its body forward, and unleashed a flurry of blows. Sapphire winced back from the brutal display. The attack almost reminded him of that Close Combat one that one of his father's pokémon used, except much more powerful.

The force of each singular blow seemed to be just as much as a full powered Enduring Counter from Cobalt, so Sapphire certainly understood why Cobalt was thrown out of the arena without being able to catch himself. Sapphire jumped to the side to catch him before he flew too far, almost overbalancing and falling off the stage. "Hey, you alright!?"

" _Did you get the license plate of the truck that hit me…?"_

"Yeah, you're alright." He took off his bag and placed Cobalt inside it, before shrugging it back on. He grabbed a pokéball and spun it, before tossing it forward. "Blast, come on out!" Blast fluttered in place, a mix of determination and nervousness on her face. "Don't worry, look at them! Crabrawler is super weak!" It was true, Crabrawler was wobbling back and forth.

"Final round, Noibat versus Crabrawler! Begin!" Crabrawler shot two streams of Bubblebeams at her, which she flew over, and deflected another with a physical shockwave of sound from a Screech.

"Let's finish this quickly!" Sapphire grinned and lifted his Z-Power Ring, the Flyinium-Z gleaming in its own slot, next to the Normalium-Z. He focused, thinking positive thoughts about Blast, but nothing happened.

He looked down at the Z-Power Ring, worried that nothing was happening until Blast cried out as a Water Gun slammed into her. "Okay, why is this not working?!"

Cobalt groaned from his seat in the bag. " _I… don't think you have enough positive memories with her to activate a Z-Move…"_

"Ah, crapazoids."

"… _What?"_

Blast weaved around another spray of water, and Sapphire shouted up at her. "Just stay out of range, I don't think it has many ranged attacks!"

The Crabrawler suddenly made that a bit harder by shooting another Bubblebeam but spreading the bubbles out instead of a stream of them. Sapphire still couldn't understand how _bubbles_ hurt, but whatever.

Blast tried avoiding most of them, but several still impacted, dazing her enough that she lost some height and fell into range of the Crabrawler. It skittered close and readied Crabhammer, smashing her aside. "Uh, Use Absorb!" Blast righted herself and fluttered backward, and Crabrawler began glowing green as energy was sucked out of them.

It didn't let that stand for long, closing in and jabbing at the bat several times. "Gust!" Blast flapped her wings _hard_ , sending Crabrawler backward, "Outrage!" and Blast swooped in, yellow eyes now tinted dark purple with Dragon-type energy, and began wailing on Crabrawler, clawing, scratching, head butting, doing as much damage as possible.

Her crab opponent tried to retaliate with a strike, but Blast managed to block it with a Brick Break. "I am really glad I used that TM on everyone that could learn it, Sapphire muttered. Crabrawler wound up again, but Blast inhaled then let out a screeching Supersonic, confusing Crabrawler and then slamming them back with Gust. "All right, time to learn a new move! Start with a Gust, but focus the wind you're blasting out into small streaks of air instead of a wall of air!"

Blast flew up and tried doing as Sapphire said, and while the blades of air that she sent forward weren't as strong as actual Air Slashes, they were still enough to throw Crabrawler back. "Nice job! We'll work on perfecting it later, for now, finish this with Wing Attack!" However, As Blast swooped down, Crabrawler recovered from the Flying-type attack and blocked the strike before slamming a Focus Punch into Blast's stomach.

"Do not assume victory is yours until your opponent has been confirmed to be defeated." Blast fell back, collapsing to the stage as she coughed and Sapphire winced at both the hit and Hala's words.

Blast struggled back to her talons, and both pokémon stared at each other, breathing heavily. Crabrawler had finally been whittled down to their last legs, while Blast was much weaker and had only needed to be hit a few times to be nearly knocked out. Blast suddenly stumbled, catching herself with her wings, and Crabrawler stood proudly, obviously thinking that they had won before Sapphire shouted: "Absorb!"

There was a flash of green, and Crabrawler fell over, unconscious as the last of the pokémon's energy was drained, while Blast stood taller. The referee raised the blue flag once more, "Crabrawler is unable to battle, the winner is Sapphire Chaser!" Sapphire laughed and ran over to Blast, picking her up and hugging her.

"Great job Blast!" Blast smiled weakly and gave a quiet trill before Sapphire stood up and placed her on his shoulder to let her rest. Hala walked over, and Sapphire grinned at him.

"Very well done, young Sapphire! What a fine trainer, and fine pokémon too!"

A trill from the distance echoed over the town, and Sapphire looked up, hearing the familiar cry. "Tapu Ko-ko-ko!"

"And the mighty Tapu Koko agrees! Perhaps the Tapu is awaiting a day where you will be strong enough to challenge it yourself?"

"Wow, that day is probably a long way away…" Sapphire chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I had enough trouble with your pokémon, I can't imagine fighting what's, like, a legendary…"

"Either way…" Hala smiled and held out a hand, a gleaming crystal in it. "Accept this Z-Crystal, to share your power with your partner pokémon!" Sapphire grinned and reached out, grabbing the crystal.

It was a light orange, perfectly cut like the Normalium and Flyinium, and in the center was a clenched fist, pointing upwards, or downwards he supposed If he held the crystal upside down. He laughed and held it up, so he gleamed in the light. "We've passed our first Grand Trial!" Cobalt weakly held up a fist and Blast fluttered her mood and wings.

"Noi, bat…"

" _Yay…"_

"As you know, when using the Z-Crystals you'll instinctively know how to do the stance, so there's no need for me to teach you it. Now then, now that you have cleared my trial, you have cleared all of the trials of Melemele island, the first of Alola's islands! The Melemele stamp is proof of your accomplishments!" He brought out a stamp, while Sapphire handed over his trainer passport.

Hala flopped to an open page, and stamped the Melemele stamp onto the page, before handing it back. Sapphire looked at the stamp, observing the fact that it looked slightly similar to a forward facing bird, before putting it away.

"Now then, Miss Willow!" Hala turned to Willow who was standing with the professor and Lillie. "I just need to go and heal my pokémon, we can have your own Grand Trial right afterward!"

"Of course, Kahuna." Willow nodded at him, as they walked off the stage.

"Moo-aaar!" Sapphire jerked as he heard a mooing noise, and saw Tauros run up to the stage. It snorted and pawed the ground, as Hala and the others approached it. Sapphire, of course, stayed as far back as possible.

"Whoa there Tauros!" Hala approached the bull and rubbed their horns, speaking calmly. He looked back to see Sapphire glaring at the bull, and Tauros glaring back. "Say, I've got an idea- How about I set it up so you can ride my tauros while you're on Mele Mele?"

"That sounds like a terrible idea," Sapphire deadpanned.

"Come now," Hala laughed, "there's no reason that he shouldn't get to experience the island challenge as well! And you can get closer like this as well!" Sapphire still looked apprehensive. "Don't worry, I'll take care of all the little things you'll need in order to ride a pokémon, Sapphire." He handed him a yellow device, that looked like a remote control. "You'll also need special riding gear, so I'll send that to your house. This ride pager will work on any island, so if you call a Tauros on a different island, one of the Ride Tauros on that island will come to you!"

"Alright, at least it won't be this one." He glared at the Tauros, who snorted.

"I've got a gift of my own," Professor Kukui laughed. "TM54, False Swipe! It's a move that can leave your opponent with very little energy left, so most trainers use it for capturing pokémon." Sapphire looked it over and nodded, before taking out his TM case and putting it in.

He gave a small bow, "Thank you, professor."

"No problem at all!" He waved a hand. "You just keep on catching more pokémon, yeah, and have fun on your journey!" He pointed at Willow, "and you'll get your own TM after your Trial!"

She smiled. "I look forward to receiving it."

Sapphire snorted. "Now, saying it like that is like saying you already know you're going to win."

"Who says I won't?" Lillie giggled and Sapphire whistled.

"All right, now I'm excited! You better do well in your Trial."

"Of course." She gave a small curtsy, and they both laughed.

"Now remember," Hala chuckled, "I still need to heal my pokémon. I suggest you do some last minute preparations."

"I will, thank you for the advice, sir." As Hala walked off, Sapphire turned to willow and raised a fist.

"I'm gonna heal mine as well, but I'll be sure to be back in time for your battle, 'kay? And if I'm not, you better postpone it so you won't start without me there!" He ran off, and Willow shook her head.

She looked at Cream and smiled, "It's our turn next, Cream. Ready?"

Cream smiled back, nodding. _"Ready!"_

* * *

' **Kay, and done. I would have Included Willow's trial as well, but I wanted to get this out since it's been a while like I said. So her trial will be on the next. I would have preferred if they were one after the other to display how their battle styles are starting to differ, but eh, what can you do?**

 **Meta question though- Why isn't Crabrawler Water/Fighting type? It's a damn crab! "This is an outrage!" Sapphire cried, slamming the desk.**

 **So yeah, review if you'd like, no matter if its "Niceu niceu, very niceu, PhoenixClaw2128-Chan~!" or just "Cool." both are neat to see.**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **-Fletchinder, Inferno**

 **-Horsea, Wave**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**

 **See y'all next time!**


	12. Chapter 12: Onwards to Akala

**The explanation for why it took so long to update is at the bottom, I don't want to take too long to get to the chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Onwards to Akala

Sapphire made sure he was comfortable, before looking over his shoulder. "Cobalt, you awake?"

" _Yep,"_ He leaped out of Sapphire's bag, before settling down in his lap. " _How well do you think Willow will do?"_

"I'm willing to bet she'll do pretty good, she probably won't make the same mistake that we did, using a Z-Crystal on a pokémon that she doesn't have enough friendly memories with." He watched her climb onto the stage, Cream on her shoulder. Hala and the referee began talking, essentially saying the same things they had earlier. Three-on-three battle, use your full power, yada yada.

"Go, Willow, you can do it!" She smiled at him, before refocusing on her opponent. The referee threw down his flags, signaling the start of the battle.

"Cream, I require your assistance." Cream jumped forward onto the stage, just as Makuhita appeared out of their pokéball. "So it's a different order than Sapphi- Sapph's battle… As I suspected. Cream, reflect."

Several glowing barriers appeared around Cream's body, at the ready to defend. Makuhita quickly closed the distance in that time, slamming several Arm Thrusts into one of the shields. It began cracking and came dangerously close to shattering, but Cream had charged up an attack while Makuhita was focused on the shield, and swiftly blasted it at the fighting type.

"Makuhita, Endure." The pokémon glowed red as the beam of psychic energy impacted, and it grunted as it was pushed back. The beam eventually petered out, but by the time it had Cream had created another, familiar attack.

"Es, purr!" Cream focused and launched the Psychic Spheres forward, which Makuhita had trouble dodging due to how many there were, and its own bulk. When it did dodge one, it exploded with psychic energy when it impacted with the stage, doing some damage to Makuhita.

Willow nodded, crossing her arms. "We've trained on making our Spheres unstable in the center, while stable on the outside, so if you manage to dodge any they can still harm you through their explosion. The ones we used in the festival against Sapphire and Hau also exploded, but they weren't as powerful."

"Clever," Hala laughed.

"Espurr's do not learn many offensive moves, so we had to be creative. Cream, Confusion." A weak, non-concentrated blast of energy slammed into Makuhita, sending them skidding back. Before one last orb of energy knocked them out.

The referee lifted the blue flag, signaling Willow's win. "Makuhita has been knocked out! Kahuna Hala, send out your next pokémon!"

Willow watched as Hala recalled his pokémon, and reached for another ball. "It would seem your pokémon aren't suited to be fighting Psychic-types."

"My stronger pokémon are," Hala chuckled, "But since this is your first Grand Trial I'm using my weakest team. Not many trainers at this point have strong Psychic-Types."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense," Sapphire muttered from his seat. Hala quickly sent out his Machop, which thudded onto the stage and settled into a pose.

"Cream, stay out." Cream nodded at Willow's words, and her eyes flashed.

"Round two, Espurr versus Machop, begin!" Machop launched himself forward, before almost immediately yelping as an explosion went off beneath their feet. Machop was tossed up high, before landing on their hand and flipping onto their feet. The pokémon narrowed its eyes and tried a path around the side of the stage before another explosion went off.

"What…" Sapphire narrowed his eyes and tried to see what was happening. Cream wasn't making any movements, nor were her eyes flashing, so what was happening? In his lap, Cobalt was also confused, until he focused his aura into his eyes. Sure enough, several patches of the stage were glowing with psychic energy, and when Machop stepped on one it exploded, like a psychic landmine.

" _Whoa, that's awesome!"_ Sapphire looked down at his bark, confused.

"What is?"

" _Figure it out for yourself, I'm not giving the trick away to Machop!"_ Sapphire rolled his eyes and watched as Machop tried to jump across the stage, only for Cream to jump aside. Machop landed where she had stood and skid about a foot, but near the end of the skid the stage blew up again.

His eyes widened, "Whoa, that is awesome!" He made sure to keep his voice low to not give away the secret. "Cream created small pockets of unstable psychic energy around the arena, like a minefield! Whenever Machop steps into or falls into one, it's disrupted and detonates! That must take some serious concentration from Cream." It certainly looked like it, anyway. Cream was looking a bit dizzy, but she was still standing.

" _Probably."_ Cobalt pointed. " _Check it, he's gonna get blown up again!"_ The Machop, which was apparently a he, since Sapphire really couldn't tell pokémon gender right off the bat unless there was something obvious with the species like the Pikachu line, stepped into another land mine and exploded. " _Ha! Awesome!"_

"I think that's gonna start a chain reaction," Sapphire said as he grinned. He was quickly proven correct when Machop landed, having been launched from the previous explosion, and was quickly blown up again. "Cream's going full-on Yoshikage Kira on them," he laughed.

" _You need to stop with the weird references."_

"Never. It's my identity."

Cobalt snorted, before tilting his head. " _Pause, how did you know Machop would land on a mine?"_

"Uh, I saw the mine? And then he landed on it. Why?"

Cobalt looked back and forth between the stage and him. "…those things are invisible."

"No, they aren't." Sapphire pointed to one that Machop was about to step on. He heard and saw what he did, so he repositioned his foot… only to step on another right next to it. "They're swirling masses of pink energy, I don't know how you _can't_ see it.

Cobalt was silent for a moment before clambering up Sapphire's clothing and looking into his eye. "Uhh…"

"… _your eye is glowing."_ He leaned back and looked into the other. " _They both are."_

"…Nani?"

Cobalt quickly smacked him for saying that before hopping down. " _That aura book, what are you up to, what is it teaching you now?"_

"Uh, I think I'm on the fifth or sixth chapter… something about Aura Sight."

"… _I think you may have accidentally activated Aura Sight by trying to see the invisible mines."_

"What? How do I accidentally do that? Heck, I've only been on the chapter for about a day or two, it was much harder learning to translate your speech, and even then I can only understand you. And that's with you doing half of the work translating yourself!"

" _I'm not sure. Maybe… it took me a long time to get down the basics of aura, but once I did it became much easier. Maybe you're like that? Once you get the basics down, it's like a snowball, the momentum builds up?"_

Sapphire rubbed his chin. "Maybe…" he shook his head. "We'll talk about it later, right now, let's support Willow and Cream!"

" _Right."_

Sapphire looked back up at the stage. "Huh, I can't see the mines anymore…"

" _You must have lost concentration while talking with me."_

"I guess." Up on the stage, Machop had finally gotten a hit in on Cream. She flew back, rolling over herself, before Machop jumped and landed directly on her, slamming a Brick Break attack onto her stomach. She coughed before her eyes lit up and she tried to blast him with a Confusion.

Machop, though tired from being battered back and forth by the explosions, was also pissed off because of them, and powered through it to slam a Rock Smash into her. She slumped down, groaning, and Machop lifted a tired fist. But before the referee could announce Machop's victory, Cream's eyes glowed one last time and a final explosion went off beneath their feet.

The dust cleared and revealed both pokémon lying unconscious. The referee lifted their flag, "Machop and Espurr are both unconscious, send out your next pokémon!" Hala recalled Machop, while Willow quickly retrieved Cream and placed her in her bag, before walking back to her side.

Willow looked at her two remaining pokéballs, before grabbing one and tossing it forward. "Slowpoke, I require your assistance."

At the same time, Hala sent out his last pokémon. "Very inventive strategies, miss Willow! Now, my final pokémon, Crabrawler, go!" Cobalt scowled and crossed his arms when he saw the Pokémon and Sapphire snickered.

"Got some PTSD there?"

" _Do you want to be slammed into the ground several times by your leg? Didn't think so."_

"Coward," he smirked in response. On stage, Crabrawler was hopping back and forth and was shadow boxing, while Slowpoke sat in place blankly.

"Round three, Slowpoke versus Crabrawler, begin!" Crabrawler scuttled forwards and attempted to throw a punch, but before it could impact it stopped about a foot away. When it did, a ripple flew through the air, revealing a psychic shield was surrounding Slowpoke. Crabrawler drew back, before throwing several more punches. Each one impacted with the shield but didn't break through.

"Well done on the shield, Slowpoke. Now, Trick Room." Slowpoke sat there for a moment, not responding, before a pink yet slightly transparent box appeared around the stage, but not Willow or Hala. "Zen Headbutt."

"Protect!" Slowpoke suddenly shot forwards, his speed and reaction time to Willow's words through the roof. A green glowing Protect shield just barely formed around Crabrawler before Slowpoke slammed into him, head glowing light pink. Slowpoke bounced backward, and shook his head, while the shield slowly lowered.

"Disable." Slowpoke's eyes flashed, and Crabrawler followed suit.

"Hold on," Sapphire blinked, "I'm confused, that happened so fast I almost couldn't keep track, what just happened?"

"Zzt," Rotom jumped out of his pocket, "Trick Room izz a move where the speedzz of each Pokémon are reversed. Since Slowpoke is a slow pokémon, it now becomezz a fast Pokémon."

"Neato!"

" _Hearing Slowpoke talk fast is weird,"_ Cobalt muttered. " _Trick Room would definitely have been useful when we were fighting together."_ Sapphire just snorted in response.

"Zen Headbutt." Slowpoke shot forward again, and with Crabrawler's Protect having been disabled, it was slammed backward, catching itself before it could fall off the stage.

"Another good strategy, well done! Crabrawler, Rain Dance!" The inside of Crabrawler's pincers began swirling with water and glowing before the Pokémon shot the two balls of water high into the sky. They exploded, and suddenly dark clouds began forming over the arena, and a moment later rain began falling.

Sapphire leaned back, before letting out a 'Huh.' The water was only falling on the stage. "That's a thing."

"Crabbammer!" Crabrawler scuttled forward and swung a powered up Crabhammer, stronger due to the rain, which Slowpoke dodged. However, he was now near the edge of the stage, which Crabrawler capitalized on by spitting two streams of Bubblebeams from its pincers, cutting off Slowpoke's escape routes. It then slowly closed in, pincers glowing with ready Crabhammers.

"Finish it Slowpoke, Confusion." The bubbles shooting by suddenly slowed down and were covered in a pink aura before they swirled around Slowpoke. Seeing that their attack was being caught, Crabrawler stopped and instead focused on closing in to smash Slowpoke away.

Slowpoke blocked with the barrier made of bubbles, before using a blast of Confusion to throw Crabrawler back. Before the crab could recover, a massive explosion of psychic energy engulfed the Pokémon, throwing up dust and wood. Sapphire blinked, wondering what just happened, so Rotom quickly explained seeing that.

"Zzt, Future Sight izz an attack that activatezz after a certain amount of time. Slowpoke most likely used it at the beginning of the battle, and it just now activated."

"It sounds useful, but that was a bit ago. Is an attack that takes that long really worth it?"

"Zzt, Depending on the Pokémon'zz skill level, the wait time for Future Sight is much lezz!"

"Oh, okay." On stage, the smoke cleared to reveal a knocked out Crabrawler.

"Crabrawler is unable to battle, Willow is victorious!"

Hala burst into laughter, slapping his stomach. "Well well! I didn't even have a chance to use my Z-move! Well done young Willow!"

Willow smiled and bowed. "Whoo! Go, Willow! I knew you could do it!" And her smile grew wider at Sapphire's yell. Cobalt just facepalmed, although technically it was a facepaw, and waved at Cream who smiled and waved back.

As Hala gave Willow the whole speech on their new Z-Crystal and how this was one of the biggest steps on her journey even if it wasn't her first, Sapphire walked over to Professor Kukui and Lillie to see them discussing something. "Howdy, guys!"

Lillie smiled when she saw him walking over, "Hello Sapphire, that was a very impressive battle."

"Eh, I think we did alright. Not as good as Willow though."

"Maybe," The Professor said, "But she had type and move advantages! I'd say you did excellently with the pokémon you had! Although you did take a risk with that Z-Crystal, using it with a pokémon you aren't very close to, but I suppose it worked out in the end!"

"Yeah, that one's on me." He shook his head. "Anyway, what's the next island? And how are we getting there?"

"We were just discussing that," Lillie said. "We'll be preparing our boat to take you, Willow, and Hau to Akala Island."

"Sweet. Want some help?"

"Nah," Kukui wagged a finger, "you all should be celebrating your first Grand Trial win, we'll handle getting the boat ready."

"What's this about a boat?" Sapphire turned to see Willow approaching, and grinned.

"The Professor and Lillie are going to be getting transport to Akala Island ready, so we can celebrate our win!" He tapped his chin as Cobalt thought with him. "I'll have to get Rotom to message Hau, but what do you think we should do for our celebration?"

"Oh, you know I'm not very good at coming up with activities…"

"Alright, when we find him, me and Hau will come up with something then," he laughed.

"I'll message your Rotoms when we're ready with the boat," Kukui nodded. "Go have some fun!"

As they walked away, Sapphire remembered something. "You go on ahead for a minute, I need to talk with one of my pokémon." Willow nodded and walked away, while Sapphire grabbed one of his pokéballs. "Blast, come on out."

The bat pokémon popped out of her ball and shook herself, before looking up at him. "Cobalt, translate her, would you? So, Blast, I seem to remember that when I offered to take you with me, I said that I would let you decide if you'd like to come along by the time we were about to leave the island, or, if you'd rather stay behind, take you back to your cave and release you."

" _She says that she remembers that."_ Blast seemed to fidget, thinking.

"Don't worry, I won't be upset about whatever you decide."

After a minute, she looked down and squeaked quietly. " _She says that she wants to come with you because you've managed to make her stronger and gave her the ability to take care of herself. She really likes you, and the rest of the team, but if she's going to be a bother than it's fine if she doesn't come along."_

"Are you kidding? Come on, Blast, what did I just say? I'm totally fine with you coming along!" He laughed and reached down to pet her, causing her to coo and lean into his hand. "Don't you worry, Blast, you'll always have a place on my team!"

" _She says thanks."_

"No probs, Blast. Now come on, let's get going!"

* * *

"So, how'd your Grand Trial go?"

"Yes, we only know you won, what was the battle itself like?"

Hau laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "It wasn't that special, I pulled the same perish song trick as I did on you guys, but I barely scraped by the rest of the battle."

"Fair," Sapphire shrugged. "I'm pretty sure Perish Song is hard to get around unless you have some kind of dampening, but if you can take the Perish Song-er out, then you don't have to worry about them for the rest of the battle. Is Perish Song-Er correct?"

Hau shrugged. "I dunno sounds right to me."

Sapphire tilted his head to the side to just barely dodge a piece of Malasada. "You know, I think I get why Gearface was always telling me to swallow before speaking."

Willow giggled and shook her head. "So, what do you think the next few trials will be like?"

"Well, I know eventually there'll be a Fire, Water, and Grass-type Trial because those are the usual starter Pokémon elements, but I'm not sure about the others. Maybe Steel-type? That'd be nice, Cobalt and Claws could have a Trial where they have the advantage. Maybe I could use Inferno as well…"

"I think the Grand-Trial Of Akala is Rock-Type, so Popplio will finally have Type-Advantage!"

"Maybe, but Type isn't everything. It helps, but it's not like you'll automatically win every battle if you have the right Typing. Cobalt beat Cream in our festival battle, remember?" Cobalt looked up when he heard his name, before going back to eating. He, Cream, and Popplio were eating Malasadas next to them.

"That is very true," Willow nodded. "Sometimes, you astound me with how little you know of the basics, but how strategic your mind can be."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"

"If you'd look in your guidebook of Alola, you'd see each island's Trials, which is basic, everyone knows they can do that. On the other hand, you come up with new attacks and moves in the middle of battle, as well as unorthodox strategies." Willow rolled her eyes, although she wore a light smile to show that she was joking.

"Yeah, well, that's how I roll." He grinned and flicked down his glasses, leaning back and placing his elbow on Cobalt's head. Cobalt smacked his arm away and he tumbled down, off-balance. " And I did read a bit about the Captains, but not much. So, next topic." He drummed the table for a second. "How do people normally get between islands? They take a ferry or something?"

"Most people, yes," Willow nodded. "Although there's apparently some sport-"

"Mantine surfing!" Hau quickly interrupted, grinning. "It's awesome, you surf on a Mantine all the way between islands!"

"That sounds… dangerously awesome!" Sapphire grinned and leaned across the table. "What are the rules and stuff?"

"It's pretty simple, you just have to get from the beach of one island to another, while doing tricks! It's pretty hard to fall off the Mantine, since the Mantine is pretty good at catching you, so it's not that dangerous."

Willow shook her head, before moving several strands of hair away from her eyes. "You're still on a pokémon, surfing between islands. If you _did_ somehow get knocked off, you could drown."

"But the Mantine would just turn around and rescue you," Hau waved his hand.

"Yeah, If it was _really_ dangerous than people wouldn't be allowed to do it." Sapphire grinned, "besides, I haven't done enough stupid stuff in Alola. Did I tell you about the time I accidentally aggravated an entire hive of Beedrill?"

Willow just looked at him. "Going out of your way to do stupid things is…"

"Genius, I know."

"Idiotic."

"Nah, that's just, like, your opinion man." He snickered as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, we've got time to kill, how'd you accomplish the Beedrill thing?"

He grinned, "So, I was like, maybe eleven-ish? I don't know, about that age, but anyway. At that age, Ant still wasn't sure about whether he'd rather be a doctor or a professor, but to help him decide he wanted to visit the pokémon professor of Kanto, Professor Oak in Pallet Town. At the time Anthony's parents were out of town, so he was staying at my house like he usually did. My mom was at work when he decided he wanted to go, so we decided to travel by ourselves."

"What a wonderful idea," Willow drawled.

"Hey, we were younger and stupider than we are now, we thought we were brilliant at the time." Sapphire stole a piece of Cobalt's malasada, causing the jackal to glare at him, making him stick his tongue out in response. "Anyway, I don't know how we got to Viridian Forest without anyone sending us back home, but we got there a couple of hours after we left by hopping on some buses using my allowance and charms."

"How come no one questioned two kids taking a bus across the region?" Hau asked around a mouthful of food.

Sapphire shrugged. "I came up with a lie about how we were visiting a sick relative and worked my charm. Moving on, there aren't any bus routes, or really any way, in general, to get transportation through Viridian Forest, except maybe a car if you're stubborn, but that'd just be stupid. Anyway, traveling from Celadon to Pallet would have taken… oh… maybe eight-ish hours if we took the bus all the way there. But since we had to walk through the forest, it was pretty late, and we weren't even halfway through.

"We were just wandering down a path, I was using a compass to make sure we kept heading south and didn't get lost before I noticed that I didn't hear Ant's footsteps anymore so I turned around and didn't see him anywhere. I started freaking out and started backtracking to try and find him. I eventually pushed through some bushes and found him trying to help a small Pichu, so I breathed a sigh of relief and started helping him. He told me to pick some Oran berries, while he made an impromptu splint."

"He knew how to make splints before he was a doctor?"

"Yep, he looked it up online. He was _really_ into becoming one. Anyway, we hadn't noticed because we hadn't looked up, but above us was a whole nest of Kakuna!"

"What pokémon are Kakuna's?"

"The pre-evolution of Beedrill," Willow answered.

"Yeah, so we tried to be really quiet and sneak out, but I think they were there for a while and we had some pretty bad luck because all of a sudden they all began glowing and evolving. We just looked at each other and started running, it was hilarious!"

"I am not sure that it was hilarious at the time."

"Duh, course not. We were screaming the entire time!" He grinned and leaned back. "Good times." Willow rolled her eyes while Hau laughed. "Anyway, the Beedrill- oh?" His bag tumbled before Rotom flew out.

"Zzt, The Professor messaged us! He's ready with the boat!"

"Thanks, Rotom. Alright, guess I gotta finish the story later."

"Aw, man…" Hau quickly finished his food, and they all stood up. Sapphire held out his arm for Cobalt, while Cream climbed into Willow's bag and Hau returned Popplio.

"Alright Sapphire Squad, let's go!"

"'Sapphire Squad?'"

"Hey, I'm totally the main character here, so our group has to be named after me!"

"Who said you were the main character?"

Hau jumped in, "No, we should be the… what's something that goes with my name…"

"Onwards, Sapphire Squad!" Willow sighed and shook her head, while Hau kept muttering name ideas to himself.

* * *

Sapphire balanced himself, before almost _over-_ balancing until he managed to catch himself. Ahead of him, Hau cheered as his Mantine did a flip over a wave.

When they had met with the professor at his boat, Hau had the brilliant idea, in Sapphire's opinion anyway, Willow still thought that it was dangerous, to Mantine Surf to Akala Island. Sapphire immediately went along with the idea, while Willow just decided to take the boat ride with Lillie and the Professor.

After picking up several different types of Ride clothes that had been sent to his house, they traveled to Big Wave Beach, where they changed into their Ride clothes and hopped onto two Mantine. The Ride clothes for Water-Ride pokémon were a life-vest and a helmet, with flippers and gloves. He also changed into his swimming trunks, because nothing is more uncomfortable than wet jeans.

Sapphire grinned as he leaned low over his Mantine so they could get more speed, while Cobalt cheered from his bag. "Alright Mantine, let's try a flip!"

"Tine!" Mantine agreed and began speeding up and swimming into a large wave, before sailing into the air, doing several flips over itself. Cobalt made sure to zip the bag around himself so nothing fell out, while Sapphire laughed and gripped the handles on Mantine's Ride gear.

They splashed down next to Hau and his own Mantine, and while Sapphire let off a small 'oof!' from the impact, he kept smiling. "This is awesome!"

"Totally!" They leaned over and high-fived each other. "Want to race the rest of the way?"

"Ha! I've never lost a race! Although granted, the only races I've been in were video game races…"

"Then today is the day you lose! Let's go Mantine!" As Hau began speeding ahead, Sapphire lay flat against his own Mantine.

"Let's beat 'em, Mantine!" His Mantine cried an acknowledgment, before speeding up.

" _You know, if I was a water type I could totally win this."_

"Psh, only because you've got Quick Attack. Wait… Rotom, what moves does Mantine know that can speed it up?"

Rotom beeped from his bag, afraid to come out and get water on his chassis. "Zzt, Tailwind, Agility and Rain Dance can activate a Mantine'zz Swift Swim ability if they have one!"

"Alright, devious plans come together! Start with Agility Mantine!" Mantine began glowing a pale white as they started speeding up, splashing through the waves faster and faster. "Now, head up the wave and begin gliding!" Mantine turned slightly to begin rising on a large wave, before launching into the sky. "Tailwind!" There was a burst of speed as winds began flowing from behind. They quickly outpaced Hau and his own Mantine, who squawked up at them.

"Using moves is cheating!"

"All's fair in races and war! Don't use Rain Dance, If Hau's Mantine also has Swift Swim then it'll be useless. Actually, can't Swift Swim just activate by swimming?" Hau's Mantine beginning to catch up answered that. "Oh. Back into the water Mantine!" Mantine folded its wing-like fins and dove into the ocean. Luckily not deep enough to submerge his bag, but just deep enough that he was submerged up to his stomach.

They were about even, but before Sapphire could think up a plan to get ahead, Akala's beach came into sight. "Aw man, alright, if I try to speed up again we might fly into the beach, let's start slowing down."

"Agreed," Hau called over. They approached the beach and slowed down. They eventually stopped and hopped off, and Sapphire turned around to pet his Mantine.

"Thanks for the ride!" The Mantine rubbed up against his hand, and he grinned. "So, Hau, where were we supposed to meet everyone?"

"Probably somewhere in town, so let's split up to look!" Sapphire nodded back and they walked into town.

"I'll look this way, you look— oh wait there they are." Sapphire pointed to where the Professor has parked— docked? His boat. They walked over as the three on the boat got off, and the Professor waved as they approached.

"Heya! How was the ride over on the Mantine?"

"Easy as pie!" Sapphire placed his hands on his hips and lifted his chin. "I do need to change out of my Ride Clothes though. Come on, Willow, you should definitely try it when we're heading for the next island!"

"Well… Maybe," she sighed.

"It's definitely faster than that old sailboat," Sapphire grinned.

"It… has seen better days," Lillie said, embarrassed.

Sapphire blinked as he realized something. "Wait, if you're here, who's taking care of our pokémon back on the ranch?"

"Don't worry about that Cous, I've got more assistants than just Lillie! They're taking care of everything while I'm away."

Before they could continue talking, they were interrupted by a new voice. "So, I see you still haven't found a shirt that goes with your lab coat, huh, Kukui?" from behind Sapphire and Hau walked up two women. "I've told you that you're going to scare people off like that!"

The first woman looked to be in her twenties and had dark skin and black hair, and wore a white crop top and grey shorts. She had several bracelets and hoops on her arms and legs, as well as a Z-Power Bracelet on her wrist. The girl behind her looked to be about eighteen, with a flower in her bright green hair and had green eyes. She wore grey overalls with a green tank-top beneath, with a small flower pattern on the bottom of her overalls.

As Lillie stepped in front of her pokémon to usher them back into her bag, the Professor placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Lillie. They're trustworthy."

The two women came to a stop a few feet in front of them, and the lead woman raised a hand in greeting. "Hello there, nice to meet you all. I'm Olivia."

"Thanks for stopping by! I'm Mallow!" The green-haired girl smiled and bowed, and Sapphire smacked his fist into his palm.

"Hey, I've read about you two in my Alola guidebook! He pointed at Olivia, "You're the Rock-Type Kahuna of the island," then pointed at Mallow, "and you're one of the Captains, the Grass-Typed Captain! Oh, uh, and I'm Sapphire."

"Wow, right in one! You're pretty smart!" Mallow grinned and leaned forward, causing Sapphire to rub the back of his head and blush in embarrassment.

"Well, I mean, it's in the guidebook, I'm sure anyone could have figured it out…"

Willow cleared her throat, "and I'm Willow. Sapphire, I thought you didn't know anything about the Captains or Kahunas?" Sapphire turned, confused. Whether she was in her confident persona or her actual shy one, she wasn't usually rude like that.

"Remember, I said I read a bit about them. When I was skimming through the pokémon section for Akala island I saw a few things about the Captains and Kahuna. Not much though."

"Uh-Huh."

Olivia laughed and placed a hand on her hip. "I was on my way to see who was pulling into the port, and ran into Mallow while she was out about the town."

"Yep! I'm gathering some stuff to help all the fine ingredients that make up your team to shine!" She hummed and looked over Hau and himself. "Especially you two! Your pokémon look ready to cook with gas! And you strike me as the quieter type, I bet you'll come up out of nowhere and surprise me with some awesome flavors!" The last part was directed at Willow, who just smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, yes, I suppose."

"All I'll say is you should be ready for my team!" Sapphire grinned and crossed his arms. "I'm a pretty good Fire-Type trainer if I do say so myself!"

"Wait, don't you have, like, two Fire-Types on your team?" Hau questioned.

"I can be an expert in a type without having a team solely composed of that type!" Cobalt just snorted on his shoulder at his words.

Olivia shook her head and smiled, before looking at the Professor. "So, what's your plan right now?"

"That's up to the kids! It's their challenge after all!"

"I suppose so… alright then, enjoy your time on the island challenge kids, you and your pokémon. I'll be waiting for my chance to face you in battle when the time comes. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've got!"

"Hah, you'd better be ready for me!"

Olivia smirked at his reply and winked. "I'll get my best team ready then. Come on Mallow, let's get going."

"Ah, well, I'm sure it'd be fine if you use one of your easier teams…"

Mallow laughed at his words. "You're pretty funny, kid!" She waved at them, before turning and running off after the Kahuna. He grinned as they went before Cobalt smacked him on the back of the head.

"Oi, what was that for?"

" _No cheating on Willow with Mallow, Sapphire."_

"Wha— ugh, what is this, I can't interact with any female without you accusing me of having a crush on them? What, are you going to think I like Lillie next?"

" _Hmm… I assumed that you liked her in a sisterly way, but I could be wrong…"_ Sapphire groaned and threw his hands up. " _I'll mark that down, three crushes then."_

"I swear that you'll be getting triple the training later. And not just meditation training!"

" _Worth it."_

"Ugh…" Sapphire looked up to see that the group had split, Lillie going in the direction of several shops, Hau towards the pokémon center, and the Professor in another direction altogether. He looked back and saw that Willow was still standing there, although she was looking around awkwardly and blushing. "Why's she doing that?"

" _Probably jealous that you have a crush on two other girls."_

"All right, see how close together my fingers are? That's how close I am to slapping you."

"… _they're touching."_

"Exactly." There was a moment of silence before Cobalt launched himself off of Sapphire's shoulder and sprinted away. He rolled his eyes before turning back to Willow. "Hey, so what are you planning to do?"

"O-oh, probably get some supplies before heading to route four to get to the next trial."

"Cool, I had the same idea. Want to hang out on the way there? Like we did heading back to Hau'oli town?"

Willow brightened, "Sure! Oh, but, um, maybe you should change out of your ride clothes…"

Sapphire looked down and laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right! Okay, first stop, the pokémon center!" He grinned and pointed the way, causing Willow to giggle and nod, walking up beside him. "Onwards!"

* * *

 **I'm happy with how Willow's Trial turned out. I wanted to highlight her more... eh, not strategic nature, since Sapphire is strategic too, but he reacts more and adapts, while Willow pretty much plans everything out in advance. Not much to say in this chapter tho.**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **-Fletchinder, Inferno**

 **-Horsea, Wave**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**

 **see y'all next time!**

* * *

 **Modern Day Phoenixclaw here. How are y'all doing?**

 **In all seriousness... The prodigal son returns. Hey, I said I wouldn't abandon anything, didn't I? Anyway, the reason I stopped updating this and Worlds Apart for so long was because I overestimated how much I could handle at once, and so the workload combined with my first semester of college was too much. Instead, since I had been on a roll with Bound By Our Hearts, I decided to finish that story before doing anything else. Considering I don't want to make the people who enjoy WA wait, I'll probably be trying to do updates for both WA and AND at the same time. It'll be easier than 3 stories at least.**

 **I didn't want to upload a chapter that was just an author's note and get people's hopes up, so I just waited. But like I said, if I start a story I finish it. I don't want to be that one guy who starts a story, people get invested, then it's forever on hiatus, even if my stories aren't the best.**

 **In any case, AND is back and in my free time when I'm not working on this or WA, I work on Bound By Our Desires, Bound By Our Hearts' sequel story. Amazing how I already have, like, ten chapters done since I finished BBOH... inspiration really struck, I suppose. Plus, writing Joker and his power to infiltrate the minds of the corrupt to steal their evil is super fun.**

 **Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' both are always great to read.**

 **See y'all next time.**


	13. Chapter 13: The Second Island

Chapter 13: The Second Island

Sapphire hopped out of the changing room, tying his sweater around his waist. Willow looked up from where she was waiting and laughed. "Do you wear that sweater everywhere?"

"You never know when there could be a sudden bout of cold," he grinned back.

"We're on tropical islands."

"Semantics."

As they made their way out of the pokémon center, Sapphire stopped by a PC. "Hold on, I'm going to switch my team up a bit. Give some of the newer pokémon time to shine." He booted the machine up, before sending a message to the Professor's assistant back at his lab that he'd like to switch up his party. He got an affirmative a minute later, and a question on which pokémon he wanted.

Sapphire drummed his fingers against the computer before typing in what pokémon he wanted and which ones he'd send back. "Should even up my team's skill level if I send _them_ back… and train _them…_ alright."

He placed two pokéballs down on the transporter, and with a crackle of electricity, they were instantly exchanged with the pokéballs back in the professor's lab. He picked them up and grinned, before placing them on his belt. "Who did you exchange?"

"Spooks and Claws for Inferno and Wave. Spooks is pretty much the strongest pokémon on my team so I don't really need to train him right now, and Claws for now just needs to practice the combo moves and the unique moves he's learned. He can do that on his own. With Inferno and Wave being my newest pokémon, I want to train them both as much as possible."

"That makes sense. I still just have four pokémon, so I don't need to worry about rotating my team around yet."

"Hey, but that just means you get more personal training with each of them, you don't have to worry about some getting stronger than the others."

"True."

They exited the pokécenter and began walking down the street. "So, I have supplies to cook with, frying pans, portable toaster, all that stuff, plates, forks, I just need actual food to cook with."

"The same here." They wandered around the street buying ingredients and supplies, until they happened upon a clothing shop and saw Lillie standing outside. "Hello, Lillie."

"Howdy!"

"Oh, Sapphire, Willow. Hello!" She smiled and waved, while Nebby and Nebbles poked out of her bag and gave questioning 'pew' sounds.

"Shopping for new clothes?" Sapphire questioned.

"Well, yes, but I think they want to get going," she said, indicating her pokémon. "I think they're interested in visiting the Ruins of Life. Apparently, they house the sacred guardian of Akala Island, a pokémon called Tapu Lele."

"That sounds cool!"

"Indeed."

"I'm glad you say that because…" Lillie blushed, "I was wondering if you'd like to come with us when we go to visit the ruins… I mean, Nebby really seems to like you, Sapphire, and Nebbles you, Willow."

"Sure!" Sapphire agreed immediately. "Investigating ruins sounds awesome, I'll be a modern-day Indiana Jones!"

"Minus the nazis of course," Willow smiled. "And I would be fine joining you as well."

"Hey, having nazis just means you have a target that everyone is fine with you killing," Sapphire grinned, wagging a finger. "Nobody likes a nazi."

" _Von Stroheim."_

"We don't talk about him." Cobalt just snorted at his response.

"Anyway, I'll be at the Tide Song Hotel when you want to go. I'm supposed to be meeting someone very important to me there."

"You won't get lost on the way?" Willow asked.

"I'll be alright. I can see the building from here, after all." She pointed out the hotel, which was down the road to the north, a large and impressive building with a fountain out front. "Even I shouldn't be able to lose my way," she laughed.

Her bag rumbled, and she shook her head. "And you two have to be quiet! With how Team Skull loves stealing pokémon, we need to be careful if we want to escape their notice!"

"Ah, don't worry about them! Their members are super weak!" He shuddered as he remembered that one girl who'd kicked their butts. "Well, most of them."

"We should train hard, not just for the Island challenge, but for if we run into her again."

Sapphire nodded at Willow's words. "Agreed."

"Well, I'll go ahead to the hotel. You two were probably shopping, so you can finish up."

"Alright, see ya later!" They waved goodbye before Sapphire rubbed his chin. "I think we pretty much got everything we needed though, so there's not much else we need to get…" his eyes drifted to the clothing store they stood in front of, and he grinned. "Well, I guess I could get some more clothes."

"Why do you need more clothes?"

"Well, I _did_ underestimate how much clothing I need, so I only brought two of the same shirts, pants, plus some extra pairs of undies. I could do with some more for when we're stuck outside of cities or towns for a while."

"Fair point," she conceded. They entered the shop, and Sapphire began looking through the racks of clothing.

"I normally hate clothing shopping, but that's just when my mom drags me around to try on everything, or makes me carry a bunch of stuff. Luckily I'm just looking for plain stuff that fits."

Willow giggled as he rolled his eyes and faked a shudder, before looking around herself. There wasn't anything she needed herself, but looking around could be fun. She heard Sapphire muttering as she walked away, "I guess these are fine… they're the right size, anyway. Cobalt, what do you think?"

"Rio, ri lou."

"Probably. And it fits with my color scheme."

"Riolu, olu ri rio."

"Water shoes are a good idea, thanks. See any blue ones?"

"Rio!"

"If I'm not wearing blue and black every day my heart will stop, it's a tragic condition I know." There was a slapping sound. "Ow!"

"Olu."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She giggled as she listened, before shaking her head. As her gaze wandered to the swimwear aisle, she blushed as she remembered her thoughts about getting a new bathing suit and having Sapphire help her look for one. "Willow?"

"Eep!" She spun to see him holding several different types of blue and black clothing, with a few gold colors shining through. "Wow, you really are keeping with that color scheme."

"Well duh, they're obviously the best colors to exist. And gold is cool, so I sometimes get a bit of that. Are you getting anything?"

"Ah…" She glanced back at the swimwear out of the corner of her eye and shook her head. She wasn't sure how he'd react to that… "No, I'll just wait out here for you."

"Alright, I'll just be a minute then!" Sapphire grinned and walked away. As he walked, he adjusted the clothes in his arms, making sure he wouldn't drop any of them. After entering the hallway with changing rooms and entering one, he switched around his outfit several times, with Cobalt rating them. " _Meh."_

" _Better."_

" _Lose the sweater, it's Alola, get that through your head already."_

" _Oh, I like the shoes."_

"I don't care if it all works together," Sapphire said, rolling his eyes. "I'm seeing if they fit, nothing else." He grabbed a blue and black nylon backpack he'd brought in and slipped it on. "Although, a waterproof backpack could be pretty useful."

After trying on a few more things, he eventually finished and exited, looking around for Willow. "Wils?"

"Wils?"

"What? It's a good nickname!" He grinned and turned, seeing her outside the hallway, and walked over. They walked to the registers together and Sapphire paid for what he wanted, before putting the rest of the clothes back. "Ready to go to the hotel?"

"Of course," she nodded. They exited the store and began making their way to the large hotel. As they walked down the street, they could see an intersection where a road went deeper into the island, into the forests. "I suppose that'll be the path we take towards the first Trial of the island."

"Can't wait for the Fire-Type Trial," Sapphire grinned. "Getting that Fire Z-Move is going to be awesome!"

"Perhaps get some pokémon that are good _against_ Fire-Types," Willow chided, smiling. "Your only pokémon good against Fire-Types are Wave and Chrsyant."

"And Wave wouldn't be much use in a place without water," Sapphire acknowledged. "Maybe some of our first training should be ways around that…?"

"Stop right there!" Sapphire jumped in surprise at the shout, while Willow looked towards the shout confused. Two people walked up, both wearing odd outfits. The boy had a loud Alolan shirt with an Alolan Exeggutor and wore blue jeans, with blue sunglasses and a beige fedora. The girl wore a white tank top and black undershirt, with blue short shorts, along with white sunglasses and a black baseball cap. When they reached the two trainers the boy grinned, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you! We just noticed the little amulets on your bags and assumed you were on your Island Challenges."

"Uh, yeah. Who are you?" Sapphire asked.

"I'm Dexio!"

"My name's Sina!" The girl said, "A beautiful name for a beautiful lady!" They then struck poses, holding their arms out and leaning diagonally opposite each other. Sapphire and Willow watched them, blinking.

"Is that what I look like when I strike a JoJo pose?" Sapphire muttered.

" _Yes. So stop doing them."_

After a few seconds of staying in the pose, they straightened up. "Anyway, We're here seeing the sights in Alola. Its unique tradition of the Island Challenge… It's pretty fascinating, I've got to say," Dexio grinned.

"Yes, it's rather fun." Willow nodded.

"Oh!" Sina suddenly raised a finger, "I've got an idea! How about one of you battle Dexio?"

"Now, there's no reason to randomly have a battle," Dexio chuckled. "Although, it would be nice to test my skills…"

"I'd be happy to have a battle," Sapphire grinned. "Unless you want to battle, Willow?"

"No, it's fine," she shook her head.

"Alright, let's get started!"

"Actually, maybe you _shouldn't_ have a battle in the middle of the road." Willow pointed out.

"Good point." A minute later, and they were off the road, in a more secluded area. "Alright, Mime Jr, I choose you!" Out of a yellow and black pokéball popped a small clown looking pokémon, pink in color with a blue hat and a red nose and button.

"Rotom?"

"Zzt, Mime Jr izz a Psychic-Type, known azz the Mime pokémon! It will attempt to mimic the movementzz and expressionzz of its opponentzz, confusing them. Once mimicked, the foe cannot take their eyezz of thizz pokémon!"

"Oh god— What is it with you people and Psychic-Types?" Sapphire thought for a moment, before grabbing a pokéball. "Let's give you something you _can't_ mimic then! Inferno, let's heat things up!" The Fletchinder popped out of his pokéball, before fluttering over the ground.

"Begin!" Sina called.

Mime Jr. immediately began setting up several Light Screens that orbited around the pokémon in multiple layers. Inferno tried blasting them with Embers, but the small flames simply rebounded off of the floating shields.

Mime Jr. retaliated with a beam of psychic energy, blasting upwards at the Fire-Type. Inferno cawed in panic as the beam barely missed, flapping his wings to fly faster. "Hit it with some physical moves! Try Tackle!"

Inferno cawed an acknowledgment, before changing flight path and shooting downwards towards the mime. The pokémon attempted to blast down the Ember Pokémon, but he was too fast. He phased through the Light Screens easily considering they were made for special attacks, not physical, and slammed into the Mime.

Mime Jr. cried out, before Pounding the bird, making him squawk in alarm before blasting the opponent with an Ember. Since they were within the Light Screens, there was nothing to block the attack, and the clown looking pokémon flew back.

The pokémon swiftly attempted to get back up and began setting up Reflect barriers. "Don't let them set up! Use…" Sapphire looked at Rotom and scrolled through Inferno's known moves. "Quick Attack!" The flaming bird shot forward at high speed, interrupting the small pokémon before it could finish setting up.

"Time to turn the tables, I'd say," Dexio said, grinning. "Psychic Terrain!" Mime Jr. did a quick dance, and suddenly the grass and stone underfoot took on a pink shine, and patterns appeared in the ground making it seem to shift and move.

Inferno attempted another Quick Attack, but Mime Jr. managed to jump out of the way of the attack, "What?"

"It's the Psychic Terrain," Willow explained. "All grounded pokémon aren't affected by priority moves like Quick Attack or Extreme Speed."

"Well, that's no fun." Sapphire grinned and threw an arm out. "But we'll just find ways around that! Inferno, start using Agility and finish with a Tackle!" The red, white, and black bird began circling the tiny clown faster and faster, Agility boosting his speed, before swerving down and slamming into the Mime Jr. After having done so, Inferno let off another blast of Embers.

"How did you bypass Psychic Terrain?" Dexio asked confused.

"It only affects Priority moves! Agility isn't one, it simply boosts your speed! And since Inferno finished with a Tackle, it was an impromptu Quick Attack without having the priority of the move!"

Sina lifted her eyebrows on the sidelines, impressed. "That was quick thinking."

"That's what he's best at," Willow nodded. "He, of course, plans before a battle, but his real strength is his ability to improvise on the fly. I prefer to stick to my strategies."

Suddenly, an invisible force crashed into Inferno's back, sending him crashing down to earth. "Inferno!" Sapphire narrowed his eyes, "I couldn't see any Attack, so I'm guessing it was a Psychic one… but then it hit from behind… so… Inferno, fly up to the left, it's Future Sight!"

The Ember pokémon flapped his wings and shot off to the side, just as an explosion went off where he had lain. "Fletch!" Inferno breathed in and unleashed several Embers, which began rebounding off of the Light Screens, before suddenly breaking through.

"Nice! Their time has run out! Now burn them up with a full power Flamethrower!"

"Fletch, fletchinder!" Inferno breathed in before unleashing a stream of fire. Mime Jr. tried to psychokinetically shield themselves, but there was too much fire and they were overwhelmed. When the flames let up Mime Jr. was unconscious, leaving Inferno the clear victor.

"Nicely done, Mime Jr, return." The pokémon was returned to its ball before another was tossed forward. "Espeon, it's your turn!"

As the small pink pokémon landed daintily, Rotom began buzzing, before Sapphire held up a hand. "No. Let me guess. Psychic-Type."

"Zzt. Yep."

"Arceus be damned," Sapphire sighed. He pointed at Willow, "you're not allowed to catch anymore Psychic-Types until I get a super-effective type against them!"

Willow hid a smile behind her hand. "What about Spooks?"

"He doesn't count, he's part Poison-Type! Alright, Inferno, return! Chrysant, let's rock and roll!"

" _Stop making puns when you send out your pokémon."_

"Never!" Chrysant popped out of her ball and yipped happily as she landed. "Ready, girl?"

She barked an affirmative, before settling into a ready stance. The Psychic-Type opposite her also got ready, waiting for a signal to begin. Suddenly, both trainers threw out their arms. "Chrysant, Stone Edge!"

"Espeon, Swift!" Large stone pillars erupted from the ground, with Chrysant riding the top of one. At the same time, Espeon fired several star shaped attacks from their mouth, which flew through the air and dodged the pillars, shooting straight for Chrysant.

"It's a homing attack! Rock Tomb to defend!" Chrysant let out a loud bark, causing pieces of the pillar she was riding upon to entomb her, so the Swift stars exploded harmlessly against the rock. As for Espeon, they couldn't dodge every pillar and was punted backward.

"Now, Rock Tomb on Espeon to attack!" The pillars of rock began floating, before shooting down at the Psychic-Type. Espeon focused and the red jewel in their forehead glowed, before several Psybeams shot out, blasting the rocks to pieces. Dust and debris filled the air, before Chrsyant shot out of the cloud of dirt, baring her fangs to attack.

Espeon jumped back to avoid the attack, shooting out several more Swift stars. Chrysant manipulated the dirt to make a wall, blocking them off, before shooting several smaller Stone Edge rock shards at the Psychic-Type. Espeon leaped aside, dodging the rocks, charging up another Psybeam.

"Chrysant, down!" She moved the earth aside to create a hole to hide in, so the beam of pink energy flew right over her head. "Wait— start moving more dirt aside, go under the ground!" She yipped and her tail disappeared, having learned and then starting to use Dig.

"He needs to stop teaching his pokémon moves mid-battle," Willow giggled.

The ground beneath Espeon burst as Chrsyant used Stone Edge, sending the Psychic-Type flying into the air. Chrysant followed, jumping high and using Bite on their tail. The Dark-Type move was super effective against the psychic, and they cried out in pain. The cry of pain suddenly escalated in volume, causing Chrysant to wince and let go.

Espeon spun in midair and fired a Psybeam downwards, sending Chrysant crashing into the dirt. "Chrysant, back!" The puppy did as Sapphire said, jumping back just as a Psybeam slammed into the ground. Espeon landed hard, but righted themselves and fired a Confusion wave.

Chrysant set up another rock wall to block it, before shattering it and sending the pieces flying forward in a Stone Edge attack. Espeon created a Light Screen shield but wasn't prepared for Chrysant to leap over the shield after the rocks had impacted, and use Bite one last time.

Espeon screeched, before a final Stone Edge pillar shot from the ground, knocking them back onto their back, unconscious. "Nice job, Chrysant!"

" _Thanks!"_ She jumped up onto him and draped her body over his shoulder and licked him.

Sapphire grinned, paused for a moment having thought he understood Chrysant, before shrugging. "Eh, probably imagined that…"

"Well, that was fun!" Dexio grinned and crossed his arms. "So doing these trials helps you grow closer to your team, like gyms in other regions. That's pretty neat! I feel like I've gotten my own little glimpse of the island challenge myself!"

Sina smiled, reaching into her bag. "Here, let's heal your pokémon." After a few minutes of dressing their pokémon's wounds, they returned them and put the supplies back in their bags. "You and your pokémon are pretty powerful, no doubt about it!"

"You should try the Kalos League sometime," Dexio nodded. "I'm sure you'd do great!"

"We're still deciding which order that we want to do the leagues in," Willow shrugged.

"I know for sure that'll we'll do Kanto next though," Sapphire finished. "I am excited for Kalos though, I've heard most of what we know about Mega-Evolution comes from that region."

"That's true," Dexio nodded. He then held his chin and looked between him and Cobalt. "You know, I've heard Z-Power Rings can actually work as Keystones for Mega Evolution." He reached into his pocket, before pulling out a small sphere. It was a golden color, with a small flare like symbol in the center, bright red in the center surrounded by blue. "I don't personally have the right pokémon for this mega-stone, but maybe you do."

"Eh?" Dexio tossed it over, and Sapphire scrambled to catch it. "What pokemon is it for?"

"Don't worry- I think you'll find that out yourself." Dexio and Sina turned away, waving. "We'll be taking our leave, then. Bon voyage!" They walked away, and Sapphire looked back over the stone, examining it.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Who knows?" Willow shrugged. "Come on, Lillie is probably waiting for us."

"Right, Let's-a go!" They resumed walking towards the hotel, circling the large fountain with a Seadra atop it and entered the building. Several people were in the lobby, either talking to each other or walking somewhere. In the back of the lobby, they could see Lillie sitting on a bench. "Lillie!"

She looked up and smiled as they approached. "Sapphire, Willow. I have to apologize, I saw some people who looked like those Team Skull thugs and I got scared. I was trying to avoid them, and ended up missing my meeting… We'll have to go another time."

"Nah, it's fine. Whenever you want to go just call us on our 'Dexs!" Willow nodded at his words.

"Alright," she smiled back. "I suppose you can go on some more Trials while you wait. From what I've read, I think the nearest is up on Route Four."

"Thanks, Lils! See ya!"

"Goodbye."

"Bye you two!"

They exited the hotel, making sure they had all of their supplies before walking out into Route Four.

* * *

Willow held back her laughter as she watched Cobalt hum to himself as he rode Sapphire's shoulder, bobbing his head as Sapphire sang along. "Only hearing half of a song is slightly odd," she giggled.

"Intellectuals could tell what someone is singing with just a quarter of the lyrics, like yours truly" Sapphire smugly replied, tapping his forehead.

"Stop thinking that you're superior to everyone just because you can recognize music," she grinned, shaking her head.

"But… I am superior," he replied, faking a confused expression.

She just sighed good-naturedly and looked up at the sky. "The sun's going down, we should probably find someplace to camp."

"Good idea. We haven't passed any clearings for the past half-hour, so let's keep our eyes open." They continued walking for a few minutes, eventually finding a small clearing off the main path of the Route.

She quickly began setting up their tents, while Sapphire set up the cooking supplies and had Inferno make a fire. "Burn! BURN!" While also screeching and cackling about how flames were the origin of life and would eventually consume everything. If she didn't know that he was faking and being dramatic she would almost be worried that she was witnessing the origin of a villain.

After a full minute of being dramatic, he pulled out ingredients to make dinner with. After putting some meat in a pan, he made sure a pot of water was boiling before dropping some corn cobs into it. "Hey Wils, can you get slowpoke to fill up a hole with water? I need someplace for Wave to swim in since she can't be on land."

"Sure," she pulled out her Water-Type's pokéball, before sending him out. "Slowpoke, come out please."

"Slooow…"

"Do you mind using Water Gun to fill in that hole?" She questioned, pointing to a deep, several feet in diameter hole that Chrysant had made.

"…Pooooke." After a second, Slowpoke filled up the hole, and Sapphire sent Wave into it.

"Sea!"

"Howdy Wave! I'm just making dinner, so everyone is relaxing now." All of his pokémon began converging around the Water-Type so she wouldn't feel lonely. She sent out the rest of her pokémon, who converged with Slowpoke and approached Sapphire's. "You all have fun while I finish dinner."

Sapphire went back to making their food, while she watched. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Naw, it's fine! You just relax!" He hum-sung to himself as he continued cooking, doing little dances as he did so, making her snort and cover her mouth, blushing.

"Es!" Cream was waving her arms by the other pokémon, and Willow smiled and waved back. Then Cream began waving a bit more frantic, causing Willow to frown and walk over.

"Cream, what's wrong?"

"Purr, Espurr…" the tiny pink pokémon pointed out into the bushes around their small camp, and Willow finally noticed they were rustling.

"Everyone back up, it could be a dangerous pokémon," Willow said, stepping forward, as the two teams of pokémon prepared attacks.

A brown furry ear poked out of the bushes, and Sapphire suddenly waved his hands. "Wait wait wait, everyone stop!" The bushes rustled again, and a small, injured brown pokémon that Willow recognized as an Eevee fell out, unconscious. Sapphire got onto his knees and began looking it over, worried. "Willow, get the medical supplies from your bag!" As Willow did so, Sapphire noticed that the pokémon was shivering even though it was still hot out, and the pokémon had shards of ice either covering or slightly lodged into the pokémon's fur.

"Cobalt, Ignition, keep the pokémon warm, Inferno, heat up the puddle Wave is in." Sapphire grabbed a towel from his bag and dipped it into the water as Inferno blew some low-powered Embers into the water, causing it to start steaming. With the towel now soaked in warm water, he carefully placed it on the frozen pokémon's forehead while Cobalt sat next to the pokémon with low powered flames licking across his form.

Willow returned with some supplies and sat down. "How is it?"

"It doesn't seem as bad as it looks, I think." He carefully brushed aside some fur, "only some of the ice has drawn blood or dug into the flesh, let's dress those wounds and keep it warm."

"Of course," she nodded. After making sure that removing the icicles that had drawn blood wouldn't harm the Eevee any more than it was already hurt, they quickly did so before wiping down the wounds with disinfectant before bandaging them. The Eevee shifted several times as they did so, wincing, before falling back into unconsciousness.

"So, What pokémon is it anyway?"

"It's an Eevee. I think they're known as the evolution pokémon, or Eeveeloution, as some people joke, since they have several different kinds of evolutions."

"Awesome!" He exclaimed. The Eevee flinched at the noise, and he winced. "Awesome," he whispered instead, not wanting to startle the pokémon again. "So, What do you think happened?"

Willow looked over the Normal-Type, "there aren't any pokémon that can use Ice-Type attacks, or really any Ice-Types at all in Alola, except for the ones on Lanakila mountain, so it couldn't have been a wild pokémon battle."

"A trainer battle then?" Sapphire questioned her.

"Probably."

Sapphire's gaze seemed to darken. "Well, whoever is responsible has to answer for this. Pokémon battling until the opponent is unconscious is standard, but this Eevee looks like it was continuously beat around even afterward! I'll give them a piece of my mind if I ever find them!"

Willow blinked as his eyes seemed to flash blue for a moment, before dismissing it as perhaps a trick of the campfire light. "We should wait for the Eevee to wake before doing anything, also, the food is burning."

"NANI?!" Sapphire scrambled to grab the pan, pulling it from the fire. "Aw crap!" As he made sure the food wasn't burnt, Willow absentmindedly pet the Eevee. For every good trainer, there was someone who used pokémon for their own gain, like the thugs from Team Skull, or other criminal organizations, or even just regular thugs who thought they were better than anyone else. Sapphire might have planned to give whoever was responsible a piece of his mind, but she would certainly be right next to him when he did so.

A plate was held in front of her and she blinked, looking up at Sapphire. The blue-themed boy grinned down at her, and she smiled back, fighting down a blush as she grabbed the plate. "Thanks."

"No problemo," he nodded. "Alright guys, mealtime!" He set down bowls with food in them for all of their pokémon. "Sorry that I'm not as good at cooking pokémon food as I am with human food, and even that I'm just mediocre at, but at least it's healthy!" The bowls each had specific types of pokémon food, with different nutrients for different Types bought from the Pokémon Centers. He'd also apparently sprinkled bits of meat and corn in the food to make up for the store-bought aspect of the food.

After a few minutes of eating, the Eevee finally woke up. First, it twitched. Then, it began shuffling around slowly, before slowly looking up and blinking at her. "E…Eev?"

"H—" before she could say anything the Normal-Type began panicking, and she swiftly backed away. "It's okay, it's alright! Cream, calm them down!"

Cream began speaking to the pokémon shyly, but it was still panicky so Cobalt stepped in and began speaking in a more authoritative tone. She watched Sapphire listened, losing his chin. Eventually, the Eevee calmed down, and Cobalt began speaking to Sapphire.

"He says that the Eevee was panicking because she thought you were the trainer that had attacked and tried to capture her and her friend."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't do anything like that," she shook her head. The Eevee continued to shiver nervously, still on guard. Sapphire handed her another bowl, and she slid it in front of the Eevee. "Here, eat, you're probably hungry."

The Eevee pushed it away, whimpering, and Cobalt began talking to the pokémon before translating for Sapphire. "The Eevee doesn't trust us," he sighed. "Understandable, I guess…"

"Perhaps she will eat when she sees that nothing bad is happening to our pokémon," she suggested.

"Maybe," Sapphire sighed. "Either way, we should leave her alone." They walked away and watched as their pokémon tried comforting the wild Eevee. "Hey," she turned as he whispered, "Cobalt translated that she said 'her and her friend,' if she was _that_ injured, what happened to her friend?"

Willow frowned, "I thought about that as well… you've heard of pokémon collectors?"

"Sounds familiar…"

"They're people who try and collect specific pokémon. Oh, most aren't that bad, they'll befriend the pokémon they want to catch for their collection, but there are some who go to more extreme methods to capture pokémon."

"Well, that happens with trainers too, there are some really crappy people… but you think whoever did this is a collector?"

"The Eevee line isn't exceptionally rare, but its multiple evolutions make them lines that collectors specifically go after often. Her friend, likely another Eevee, was probably caught or also managed to escape."

Sapphire's look darkened again, and it sat on his face without any burning food distracting him. "So this guy, whoever he is, probably hurt all of his other pokémon just as badly trying to catch them… What a piece of sh-!" he cut himself off while glancing towards her, before looking away. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize. I feel just as strongly about it."

"Sure don't show it." He let a lopsided grin fall onto his face, hiding the anger he'd shown not a moment earlier. The crackling fire filled in the awkward silence, and he sighed. "I'm… heading to bed early. Here, I'll clean up everything."

"No, it's fine. I'm going to train my pokémon, I'll clean up afterward, hopefully, Eevee will have eaten by then."

"Right… right, thanks." he glanced towards his pokémon, who were still talking with Eevee, who seemed at least a bit more comfortable. "They'll come to sleep when they're finished. Night, Willow."

"Goodnight." Sapphire got up and dusted his pants off, crawling into his tent. She watched him go before her eyes slid back to the Normal-Type pokémon. If whoever did that to the Eevee tried to get at the pokémon again, they'd have to go through her and her team. And, judging by Sapphire's rare but just anger, they'd have to go through him as well.

* * *

 **Not much to say this chapter, hope ya had fun reading!**

* * *

 **Before I get to modern-day me's Author Note, here's a Christmas themed Omake! Happy holidays, everyone!**

* * *

"God, you suck at this game."

"Wha- alright, you want to play?! This is on Merciless difficulty! And I'm not even using any cheat builds like a perfect Yoshitsune or Abaddon!"

Anthony just snickered at Sapphire's exclamation, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat. "I'm just not sure why we aren't playing an actual Christmas game for, well, Christmas."

"Persona Five is totally a Christmas game! We're killing god on Christmas!" he waved towards the screen where they were, in fact, killing god on Christmas. "I mean, even though Persona Four and Three didn't exactly have their final battles on Christmas, they at least had super important events and boss battles on those days. Persona is a super festive series and you know it."

"I'm getting more eggnog so I can try and understand your knowledge."

"You know that we don't make eggnog with alcohol."

"I'm going to force myself to get drunk." Anthony got up from the couch and he rolled his eyes as the blond left, tapping at his controller as Bolt the Magnemite followed, Cobalt continuing to sit in his lap. "So, when's your girlfriend coming over?"

"We aren't dating, Gearface! I should not have invited you to Alola for Christmas..." he glared towards the kitchen area, and he knew that his best friend was smirking even though he couldn't see his face.

 _"You sure you aren't dating?"_

"Shut it, Cobalt."

"Oh I'm sure, I'm sure. So, going to dress up as Santa or something? You're just in jeans and a t-shirt."

"No Christmas party is complete without a Sexy Santa," he sarcastically answered back.

"And I'm sure you'd like Willow to come dressed like that."

 _"The blond has a point."_

"Don't make me come over there!" As for Cobalt, he bopped him on the head.

"Uh-huh. Speaking of... remember when I bailed you out of that incident with the Arbok back in Celadon, and you said you owed me?"

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Yeeees?"

"Well, I just so happened to get the wrong Santa costume. Why not try it on and see if it fits?"

Cobalt perked up and grinned. _"This is gonna be good."_

"...You monster. You're trying to humiliate me."

"Duh." Anthony tossed him a bag. "Go change, you owe me, and I'm using this as blackmail material."

"You'll pay," he hissed, pausing the game and carrying the bag to his room. "I swear on every god and legendary."

Anthony just smirked and sat down on the couch as he drank from his cup of eggnog. Cobalt smirked at him and he smirked back, both of them ready for the reveal. He perked up as someone knocked on the door and beamed. "Oh, now this timing is just perfect." he bolted over and opened the door to reveal Willow. "Willow, amazing, sit down and enjoy the show!"

She looked at him in confusion but sat down next to him and watched as he pulled out a camera. "Hello, Anthony. What show am I supposed to be enjoying?" Cream jumped out of her bag and smiled at Cobalt, while Bolt buzzed over and all three pokemon began playing together.

Her answer came in the form of Sapphire exiting his room wearing the Santa outfit. Only it wasn't exactly the traditional outfit. Instead, it was a red and white wooly two-piece, along with a fluffy Santa hat and bells along his waist. He glared at Anthony, before he saw Willow, holding a hand to her blushing face as she tried not to burst into laughter, and paled. "...I regret all life decisions leading to this point."

"I sure don't!" Anthony took several pictures and cackled, a mischevious glint in his eyes as he nudged Willow. "Looks pretty good, doesn't he?"

"Uh..." She finally looked away and wiped the line of blood that dripped from her nose away. "Yeah..."

He just laughed harder at that. "Hear that, Sapphy? She thinks you look smokin' hot!"

Sapphire just growled and crossed his arms. "If there was mistletoe over you, you wouldn't be kissed, because it'd be mistlefoe. Your halls would be getting decked."

"You wish there was mistletoe over me, even guys want me I'm so hot," Anthony snickered back.

"You wish."

Willow's nosebleed became worse at the thought, and she frantically wiped it away. "U-uh, if you don't want to wear that-"

Sapphire sighed and plopped down between Willow and Anthony, wrapping his arms around their necks. "Nah, I'm already wearing it, why bother? Besides, now I'm all dressed for Christmas!"

"Yeah, dressed," Anthony snickered and scrolled through his pictures, selecting the best ones for blackmail. Their pokemon came over, seeing them all sitting together and snickered at Sapphire's clothing. "Can you pose for me later? These are good, but I could use a few more to put in a safe place if you manage to delete these."

"You can send them to me!" Willow pointed out, before clearing her throat and looking away. "For... safekeeping?"

Anthony smirked and elbowed the 'Santa'ly clad Sapphire. "Ooh, she's into some spicy stuff."

"Your death will be long and painful," he threatened.

"Yeah, yeah." He grinned and closed his camera, handing the game controller back to Sapphire. "Merry Christmas, my favorite ugly brother."

"Merry Christmas you two," Willow laughed.

"Heh, and to all a good night, and all that jazz."

* * *

 **Modern Day Phoenix here! I hope that Omake was enjoyable, I didn't get into Anthony's character much at the beginning of the story, and in chapter eight I only got to show a bit of him so I made a prank by him most of the Omake's 'plot.' I see him as a really mischevious yet still intelligent person that likes pulling pranks. I had ideas for a big fancy Omake, but a small, friend-focused one seemed nice. You don't need anything extravagant for Christmas after all, its a holiday about spending time with those close to you.**

 **You know, looking over my characters I can see what I was going for, but still cringe a bit at how poor I did them, well, one in particular. I think I wrote each pokemon's personality well, as well as Sapphire's, but I think I failed a bit with Willow.**

 **I can see that my past self was going for a cool-headed and calm girl due to expectations placed on her from how good she was at pokémon training and such, but was actually shy and everything underneath that serious persona and could show her true self around Sapphire. My past self kind of flip-flopped a lot with that, didn't I? Hopefully, since the next chapter is the first one I've written since writing BBOHs, I've written her a bit better.**

 **Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **-Fletchinder, Inferno**

 **-Horsea, Wave**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**


	14. Chapter 14: Waterlogged

Chapter 14: Waterlogged

"There's the town up ahead," Sapphire spoke, indicating their goal with a nod of his head. "The next trial is on the route after, right?"

"Correct," Willow nodded back to him.

"Cool, cool." They kept walking, with Sapphire glancing back every once in a while. "So… I guess Eevee is still following us?" Behind them, the Normal-Type Pokémon was slowly trailing them, close enough that it could keep an eye on them, while far enough to run far away by the time they could fully turn around if they so tried.

While he was a bit disappointed that she still didn't trust them enough to walk beside them, he was pleased that it _at least_ trusted them enough to follow them for a while. "Luckily, yes. I hope she'll at least allow us to bring her into the pokémon center to have Nurse Joy check up on her."

He nodded at Willow's words, before looking at Cobalt, who was in his usual position, sitting on his shoulder. "Hey, you mind asking her if she'll be alright with that? I don't want to ask her when we're almost inside the town."

" _Got it."_ Cobalt hopped off and waited for Eevee to catch up. Cream followed after some urging from Willow, while they kept walking. They quickly reached the gate to Paniola town, and the first thing that came to Sapphire's mind was one of those old western towns from American films.

"Well boy howdy," he smirked to himself, tipping an imaginary cowboy hat. "Looks like we're in the old wild west, ain't we pardner?"

"W...what?"

"Don't worry about it." He turned to see Cobalt and Cream leading Eevee towards them, who looked ready to bolt at any moment. "Hey, Eev. I dunno if Cobalt and Cream told you, but the reason we want to bring you into Paniola town is that they have a pokémon center, a place that can check you for anything we might have missed."

Eevee looked nervously at their pokémon, before slowly nodding at them. Willow smiled upon seeing Eevee nod and motioned towards him. "Perhaps you should stay with Sapphire, so you aren't frightened of any humans come near."

"I think she's still scared enough of me…" he was proven wrong when the Eevee hesitantly stalked near him, not quite brushing against him, but staying close. "Never mind then. Alright, come on everyone." They walked through the town, Sapphire grinning as he observed the architecture.

The pokémon center was near the back of the town, and Eevee stuck close to him the entire walk, with Cobalt and Cream keeping her distracted so she wouldn't start panicking whenever a human looked her way.

The inside of the center looked the same as all the others in Alola, but that just meant it was just as pleasant. They walked up to the counter, waiting for the person ahead of them to walk away, before approaching. "Hello," the Nurse Joy behind the counter smiled, "and welcome to the Paniola pokémon center."

"Howdy, we'd like you to look over our pokémon, and check on this Eevee. She was… pretty injured when we found her, and kind of afraid of humans, so do you mind being extra careful?"

"Oh, of course. Don't worry, we'll take good care of all your pokémon, and the Eevee."

Sapphire bent down and slowly reached a hand towards Eevee. "Hey, this nice lady is Nurse Joy, she'll help you out. Cobalt and Cream will stay with you, so you'll be safe, okay?" Eevee agreed hesitantly, and he motioned Eevee forward while handing over his pokéballs.

After watching them leave, Sapphire crossed his arms. "I'm kind of worried for Eevee…"

"Me too…" Willow sighed, before giving him a half-smile. "But it's Nurse Joy. She'll take good care of her."

"Yeah, you're right. Come on, let's wait for the examination to finish, then head to our next trial."

* * *

After their pokémon plus Eevee were deemed healthy and rested, Sapphire and Willow began making their way north towards the Water-Type Trial. As they walked Eevee kept following them, even though she was now perfectly fixed up. "Why do you think she's still following us?"

"She probably feels safer with us than without us," Willow answered him.

"Yeah…" he glanced at Eevee with a concerned look on his face, before facing the path again. He leaned over slightly so he could whisper at his female traveling companion, "do you think I should offer to have her as a pokémon, or have you offer? Or could that freak her out more?"

"Considering someone was trying to capture her before we found her, it might have a negative effect," she whispered back. "For now we should just let her follow us for as long as she deems necessary. If she's still following us after a long while, we can offer." He nodded and they resumed walking, before coming upon a gateway with a sign above it reading 'Paniola Ranch.'

"Whoa, a ranch! Never been to one of those!"

"Neither have I. Are you interested in going in?"

"Heck yeah! I want to see if they'll let me ride a Ponyta or Rapidash, they're awesome!" Willow just smiled at his enthusiasm and they walked inside the ranch with Eevee following behind them.

The ranch itself looked like what Sapphire expected, several buildings for the pokémon and for people to live in, and wide fields for pokémon like the Ponyta and Rapidash to run around in. He peeked up as he saw several of the Fire-Types roaming around. "Look, flaming ponies!"

Cobalt snorted from his position on his shoulder. " _What, tired of a flaming cat?"_

"Hey, Claws isn't on fire at all times, is he?" They neared a stable with several horses nibbling on hay while a ranch hand watched. Said worker noticed them walking over and smiled.

"Hi, first time visiting the ranch?"

"Yeah, we're just passing by on our way to the next Trial, figured we would check out the place!" He grinned and looked at the horse pokémon.

"Haha, well, this ranch is rather popular with trainers coming and going along the route. Pokémon like Tauros are versatile, Miltanks are tough and sturdy, and Rapidash are powerful and fast. People like to observe the pokémon here to see if such pokémon would fit well on their teams."

"Hm… that sounds quite smart actually… I might do that myself," Willow hummed.

"Well, I know for one that I'd choose a Ponyta and Rapidash! They're awesome! I always wanted one!" He grinned and reached out, petting one of the cream-colored on their flaming manes. The fire licked at his hands, but luckily the species of pokémon could control their manes so the fire wouldn't burn people who touched them.

"They _are_ a popular pokémon," the ranch hand chuckled. "They can be a bit rowdy though, so make sure you're careful."

"Nah, I'm sure it'll be fine." He looked towards the ranch hand and shrugged, before wincing as something bit his hand. He looked back and saw his hand had drifted towards a Ponyta, and they were glaring at him as they chewed on his hand. "Or not." He pulled back slightly before his eyes darted up to its flickering mane. Unlike the usual deep red and bright orange flames that the others of its species had, the Ponyta instead had cool blue flames that curled and flowed like something out of a comic book. "Whoa, is this one a shiny?"

The ranch hand chuckled, "Yep, she's a shiny alright. Was a real shock when she hatched from her egg, you know. Quite a lot of trainers are real shocked since not many of them have ever seen a shiny. Some even ask to battle or capture her, but since she doesn't like anyone except us, she always ignores them."

"Stubborn, then," he grinned as he rubbed his hand. "Nice to meet ya, Ponyta!" Cobalt gave a murmur of hello as well, and Ponyta just tossed her head and snorted.

" _I don't think she likes us."_

"I'm the best Fire-Type trainer ever, why wouldn't she like me?"

" _You're an idiot."_

"I resemble that remark."

"I think it's 'I resent that remark,'" Willow corrected.

"Why would I resent it if it's true?" Cobalt rolled his eyes and Willow giggled while Eevee flicked her tail. "Come on, let's check out some of the other pokémon, before heading out to the next Trial!"

* * *

The entrance to the Water-Type Trial beckoned, but only one could enter first… a battle of epic proportions would be necessary to decide who went, and who stayed beh—

" _Sapph, I'm hungry, let's rest before we try the trial."_

"So, I suppose I'll go in first then." He shot Cobalt a look of betrayal and his partner just rolled his eyes.

" _Don't blame me for being hungry."_

"Yeah, yeah… alright, fine with me. Good luck Willow!" Willow smiled at him, before taking a breath and entering the Trial. He watched her go, before turning towards the pokécenter that was situated just outside the entrance to the Trial. "Well, we have more time to plan now… We definitely won't be going with Claws, Inferno or Chrysant, because Typings… but everyone else is pretty much fair game."

" _The only one of us with the advantage is Storm, the rest of us are all just neutral…"_

"Better than being weak. Now, I don't want Spooks because he wouldn't have a challenge, and I still want him working on his moves."

" _What about me?"_

"You had the Normal and Fighting Trials, don't hog the spotlight. Now, Storm, as you said, is an obvious choice. Even though we can use all our pokémon, we should figure out our starting team. The logical choice next would be Wave, since she'd be in her element. Maybe Blast? I'm gonna guess and say the Totem Pokémon will be one that'll stay submerged, and a pokémon in the air could be helpful."

" _And then me, right?!"_

"No. You'll never be in another battle again. Hahahahaha." He laughed drily and smirked as Cobalt smacked him. "Well, let's rest up and then train everyone. Prepare for the best and plan for the worst."

After a quick checkup at the pokémon center, Storm and Blast stood before him, with Wave relaxed in a lake. "Everyone ready?"

"Horsea."

"Cha…"

"Noi!"

"Alrighty then! Storm, I want you to work on just how much energy you can store up. Blast, I want you to fly around the area for as long as you can as fast as you can, and push yourself to go faster and longer to strengthen your wings, which will then strengthen your gust attacks. You'll be the long-ranged attacker in this battle. Wave, your Water-Type moves may not be very effective, but Rotom says you actually have some very strong Egg Moves. Let's work on those!"

With a plan set in place, they began preparing for the Trial while Eevee watched. With Willow, however, she was walking across a bridge made of separate wooden planks that bobbed in the water underneath. She stepped off the planks onto a small sandy area, with a girl waiting for her. She had blue hair and eyes, with a white shirt and blue pants. "Hello," the girl started, "I'm Lana. I serve as the Captain of Brooklet Hill."

"It's nice to meet you, Lana." She smiled and slipped on her confidant persona, "I'm Willow, and I'll be attempting your Trial today."

"Very well then." Lana smiled and led her deeper into the Trial area. "My Trial is simple. I want you to herd the pokémon found in the pools of Brooklet Hill, driving them downstream to draw out the Totem Pokémon. To be blunt, the pokémon you are herding are Dewpider. You won't have to swim of course, we have a Ride Pokémon, Lapras, for you."

They continued down the path, eventually reaching a large lake area, with a stream that led further downwards. Willow spotted two bubbling areas and deduced that at least one of them held the Dewpider she was herding. A Lapras was waiting for her, and she quickly grabbed her Ride Clothes, changing so she wouldn't get her clothes wet.

Lana watched the water and turned to her as she approached Lapras, and nodded at her. "Good luck."

She nodded back and she calmly ordered Lapras forward, and Rotom quietly beeped from inside her bag. "Zzt, please don't drop me in the water…" She smiled at her quiet Rotom's words and silently nodded, before stopping just ahead of the bubbling area. She could try to fight the pokémon to herd them downstream… By why not just scare them downstream instead of wasting energy?

"Rowlet, I require your assistance." Rowlet fluttered out of his pokéball, circling around the bubbling area. "Rowlet, Leafage, not directly but nearby." Rowlet did as she said, launching the Grass-Typed attack near to the bubbles. The bubbles stopped and a Dewpider leaped out of the water in panic, splashing downstream. She smiled and nodded at Rowlet who landed on her shoulder.

"Most people just fight the Dewpider to get them downstream," Lana noted. "Oh well. You're still sending them downstream. Well done." Lapras let her off on dry land, so she walked further down the path as Lapras took the stream down. When she reached the next body of water Lapras was patiently waiting for her, and she repeated the process of getting on and scaring the next Dewpider downstream, although this time there were several following it.

As she made for the next patch of dry land, she hummed to herself and turned to Cream. "Dewpider... I think I know what the Totem will be."

 _What do you mean?_ She smiled at Cream's telepathic question and nodded. It had been something they had been working on for a while until they perfected it the night before. She'd forgotten to tell Sapphire, but now that she imagined his response to it she couldn't wait to tell him after their Trials. Back to the matter at hand though...

"Think about the Normal-Type Trial." She didn't elaborate further, simply continuing forward. At the bottom of the path, Lana looked out over the Totem's Den and smiled.

"Look, look, it seems we've drawn out the Totem."

"So it seems." Getting back onto Lapras for the third time, she motioned the pokémon forward where it swam towards a much larger bubbling area. A large dark shape was swimming beneath the surface, and she quickly nodded at Rowlet, who shot into the air. Cream, who was in her bag, quickly took his place on her shoulder. "Let's start strong. Leafage, Psychic Spheres."

Her pokémon launched their respective attacks into the water, which stilled for several seconds. The Trial area was silent before with a roar a massive shape breached the water and leaped towards Rowlet. The small owl hooted in panic and flapped away, while the Totem Pokémon landed back in the water harmlessly.

She was able to get a good view of it now, it was a large arachnid pokémon, with a thin yellow body and black claw tips at the ends of its legs, as well as a round black head with several large blue eyes and dark fangs. Around its head was a bulbous water bubble, with similar bubbles on its knees. It chittered at them, a subtle aura of power surrounding it.

"It's a Bug-Type, so forget Grass-Type attacks, focus on Flying-Type moves." Rowlet hooted an affirmative and flapped his wings hard, creating a powerful Gust attack that sent the Totem, Araquanid, back several feet. It shook its head and used Rain Dance to cause the sky to cloud over, before firing a Sticky Web at Rowlet.

The web stopped midair, covered by a pink aura. It flew back down and covered the Totem, causing it to screech in anger as it shook the webbing off, Cream having redirected it with a telekinetic grab. Rowlet then swooped down and let Cream jump onto his back, while She sent out Slowpoke. "Trick Room." Araquanid visibly slowed down, while Slowpoke did the exact opposite of what his name described and began moving at high speeds.

The Totem surrounded its entire body with a water bubble like what was around its head and charged towards Slowpoke, but several psychic mines that had been planted in the water by Cream exploded as Araquanid skated over them, throwing the Totem back onto its back. It scrambled around for a moment before Slowpoke slammed into it with Zen Headbutt.

The Totem swept its legs around its long legs around itself as it reoriented itself, Slowpoke dodging easily by swimming underwater and around it. Causing the Totem to screech and look around in anger, before several more Gusts and psychic blasts hit it from above. It turned as Rowlet swooped in and clawed and Pecked at its face while Cream held on desperately.

Araquanid snarled and the bubble around its head bulged, firing a blast of water out. The flying pokémon dodged before Slowpoke swam up from beneath it and launched Araquanid into the air with another Zen Headbutt allowing Rowlet and Cream to hit it with a barrage of Razor Leaves being controlled by Cream's telekinesis, turning them into pseudo Magical Leaves.

They flew around and hit Araquanid from every angle, causing the Totem to hiss from the pain before the rain swirling around it began crystallizing into ice. A sudden Blizzard exploded out of the pokémon, throwing all of her pokémon back. The water began icing over and Slowpoke made for the surface, only for his legs to get frozen over and the ice to spread upwards until Slowpoke was an ice sculpture. Before he could even attempt to break free Araquanid slammed into him, throwing him across the ice and skidding several feet.

Trick Room wore off as he attempted to get up and Araquanid knocked Slowpoke out with an Ice Beam. Willow winced in worry for her Water-Type, returning them as Rowlet shivered from the ice barraging her. "Cream, Full Shield!"

Cream began forming Reflect and Light Screen shields, until an orb formed around the two pokémon and shielded them from the Blizzard. The Ice Beam completely bounced off the barriers instead of just weakening due to how dense they were, causing Araquanid to screech as its own attack hit it. Part of its head bubble froze over and obstructed its view, which her Pokémon took advantage of.

Cream fired the unstable version of their Psychic Sphere attack, which detonated against Araquanid with even larger and more brutal explosions, cracking the ice underneath Araquanid. The Totem lost its balance as the ice began to shatter and the Blizzard began weakening in intensity before Rowlet flapped his wings hard and sent blades of razor-sharp wind screaming towards Araquanid.

The Air Cutter's sliced against the Water-Bug-Type, and it fell back, weakened. "Finish it while it's disoriented," she called as she struck a pose and Z-Energy flowed through her bracelet, into her, and into Rowlet as she focused on their positive memories and emotions. "Breakneck Blitz!"

Rowlet folded his wings and Cream hung on even tighter, before Rowlet dove with incredible speed and slammed into Araquanid. They soared back, the ice splintering behind them as they went before Rowlet flapped hard and stopped while the Totem kept going and slammed into the wall of the cove.

The rock was crushed onwards as the Totem twitched before it fell forward unconscious. Rowlet circled around and landed on her shoulder with a tired hoot, while Cream smiled weakly. _Making all those shields was tiring. Well, making them perfectly merge like that, anyway…_

"You did great, the both of you. You as well, Slowpoke, if you can hear me." She returned Rowlet and placed him back on her belt before patting Lapras to signal that they should get back to shore. "I'll use you for the next Trial, Grimer, I couldn't use you here because your form would spread out too much in the water." Grimer's pokéball wobbled as he acknowledged her words.

When they returned to shore Lana was smiling at her. "Well done. You've passed the Water Trial, and for that, your next Z-Crystal. She opened her hand to reveal a bright blue shard, with a darker blue symbol shaped like a raindrop. "This is Waterium Z. With it, you can use Hydro Vortex with any Water-Type move."

"Thank you, Lana. I'll make good use of this. My friend is going to take your Trial next, how long should he wait for your Totem to recover?"

"Oh, don't worry. Several Trials have multiple Totems for back to back challengers. He can attempt my Trial whenever he feels ready."

"I'll make sure to tell him." She smiled and walked away, clicking the Waterium Z into place on her bracelet.

* * *

"LET'S GOOOO!" Sapphire whooped and hopped onto Lapras, motioning forward, Cobalt following while rolling his eyes. Eevee stayed behind with Willow while they took the Trial, being too nervous to travel over the water. "C'mon Lapras, it's time to take on the Trial!" Lapras just huffed and swam out into the water and Cobalt sighed.

" _You should really calm down."_

"Hell naw." He grinned as they neared the bubbling water and pulled his sunglasses down onto his eyes. "Once we beat this Trial, the hardest Trial for us Fire-Type masters will be over and done with!"

" _You aren't a Fire-Type master."_

"Silence your face hole." They stopped in front of the bubbles, and he grabbed Wave's pokéball. "Let's wash them away!"

Wave splashed down and swam in a circle as Cobalt groaned. " _You need to stop with the pun send-outs..."_

Sapphire just cackled as an answer. "Alright, Wave, let's get that Wishiwashi out here! Start with Whirlpool!" Wave trilled and the water around her began swirling and a Wishiwashi splashed up out of the water, flailing around. "Rotom, analyze!"

"Zzt, Wishiwashi, the Small Fry Pokémon. Individually they are incredibly weak, but when in trouble their eyezz moisten and begin to shine, attracting their comradezz." As Rotom said, its eyes were large and already seemed moistened, with a pale white body that had a darker blue top and grey underside.

"Washi!" The pokémon spat out several bubbles that Wave easily dodged. Wave retaliated with a blast of water that sent the Wishiwashi careening away, and the fish pokémon quickly attempted to reorient itself and attack. Before it could Wave hit it with another Water Gun, and the Wishiwashi cut its losses and swam downstream.

"Come on, let's get after it!" Lapras sighed and let them off on land, while Wave swam with Lapras downstream. He sped down the hill with Cobalt calmly sitting on his shoulder, until they reached the bottom and looked out over the water. "Uhh… there's the next Wishiwashi!"

They set out to herd the next Wishiwashi downstream, with Wave repeating the tactic of starting up a whirlpool to draw them out, before blasting them with water. This time, however, several more Wishiwashi followed the first downstream, and Cobalt looked at them in worry. " _I'm getting a bad feeling about all those Wishiwashi…"_

"Ah, it'll be fine! Come on, let's beat this Trial!"

Lana waved as he ran past. "Good luck with the Totem. And nicely done with herding the Wishiwashi."

"Thanks!" Sapphire grabbed Blast's pokéball from his belt, as well as Storm's. They'd planned for an arena on the water, Wave would ice it over for Storm and Cobalt, but first, the Totem needed to show itself. They approach the bubbles and the lake went silent.

Nothing happened for several seconds until suddenly clouds moved in. Rain began splattering down on them and Sapphire looked around in confusion before with a massive roar, an incredibly large shape leaped out of the water. It looked vaguely like a Wishiwashi, But now it's body was much darker blue, and there were gaps in his body and mouth. Looking closer, Sapphire realized that the pokémon was made up of dozens of Wishiwashi, creating a near twenty-foot long behemoth.

"Now _that_ is an absolute unit."

" _I'll kill you."_

"You can try." Even as they bantered, they never took their eyes off of the massive Pokémon. Wave whimpered from her position next to Lapras. "You don't have to fight if you don't want to." Wave shook her head and moved forward, and he didn't need to perfectly understand her to know that she wanted to prove herself. "Alright, let's do this." The Totem glared down at them, silent, and Sapphire reached back to grab Rotom. "Any advice?"

"Zzt… J-Just that you should be careful… and make sure they're distracted when you do _the thing."_

"Heh, gotcha. Alright, Wave, Dragon Rage!" Wave breathed in, before launching her Egg Move with a blast of purple-blue fire in the form of a dragon. The Dragon-Type attack splashed against the Totem and caused it to roar, launching a blast of water back towards her.

Wave dove underwater and swam around the Wishiwashi, coming up on its other side and attacking with another Dragon Rage. The Totem snarled and turned to attack, which meant it was no longer facing them. "Now, let's do this!"

"Zzt, I'm starting to have second thoughtzz about—"

"Rotom, let's light 'em up!" Rotom jumped out of his Pokédex and buzzed nervously, before attacking with a Thundershock.

It had been during their preparations for the Trial, as Willow was taking it, that it had come together. Rotom had been watching him and Cobalt practice together and made an off-hand comment. "Zzt, you know, that battling sure does look fun."

"Do you want to try?" He had turned away and took a kick to the face as punishment, turning and glaring at Cobalt who just grinned cheekily.

"Zzt, oh no, I'm your Pokédex, remember?"

"You can still battle if you want. The Pokédex was working before you entered, right? So why not have some fun?"

"Zzt, w-well, I wouldn't want to slow you down…"

"Nah, it's fine! Say the word and you're on the team! Heck, why not have your big debut in the Trial!"

"Zzt, really?"

"Sure, you'll mostly be support since we can't train you up to everyone else's level by the time we go in, but you can still participate!"

Rotom then wailed and hugged him, causing him to sweatdrop. "Zzt, you're so nice, Sapphire!"

"Uh, being a bit overdramatic there, bud."

Back in the present, Sapphire grinned as he watched Rotom blast the Totem again. "Keep up the pressure Rotom!"

Wave swam around the Totem as it began blasting at Rotom with Water Guns, Pulses, and more. She stopped before Lapras and breathed in before a wave of rainbow-colored frost shot out of her as she used Aurora Beam. "Sea, horsea!" The waves quickly froze over, though due to how rough they were, the ice began breaking off into chunks. Sapphire frowned at that, before brightening up.

"Storm won't be able to jump from platform to platform, so you're going in early, Cobalt! Carry him around for him to blast the Totem!" Cobalt barked an affirmative and jumped from his shoulder onto one of the ice blocks, while he sent out Storm onto the ice. Cobalt grabbed the Electric-Type and slung him onto his back while Storm charged up. The Totem didn't notice with how it was preoccupied with Rotom's speedy form, attacking it from a distance with shocks of lightning.

The large Wishiwashi suddenly roared and a Twister began forming, and Rotom yelped as it began pulling it out of the air. Storm finished Charging and fired an Electroweb at the Totem, causing the Twister to flicker out as the pokémon snarled from the voltage leaping from web to web. Wishiwashi turned and sucked in what looked to be several gallons of water, before blasting a Hydro Pump towards Cobalt and Storm.

Cobalt gracefully dodged by doing a flip from one wobbling ice block to another, even with Storm on his back. The ice block they had been standing on was obliterated by the powerful Water-Type move, and Wishiwashi quickly fired another and another. Cobalt yelped as one barely missed them, continuing to jump from platform to impromptu platform. Wave popped out of the water and another fiery plume Dragon Rage.

It scorched Wishiwashi's side, causing it to turn to her in anger and loosed its next Hydro Pump towards her. She dove back underwater and the Totem was blasted by a Thundershock and a Spark from behind. Storm tumbled through the air and Cobalt caught him, while Rotom zipped away. With a snarl, the Totem slammed its large tail down and sent a knife of water made of an Aqua Tail attack screaming towards Cobalt and Storm. It split the ice they stood upon and Cobalt yelped as he nearly lost his balance and only barely dodged the attack.

The rain began splattering down harder and underneath the Totem a Whirlpool started up, dragging the ice towards Wishiwashi, as well as Wave who was hiding underwater. "Alright, your turn, Blast! Blow 'em away!" Blast popped out of her pokéball and flapped her wings, immediately hitting Wishiwashi with a Supersonic. The Totem slowed as its senses were disrupted and the Whirlpool began weakening.

As the Totem flailed around in confusion, Rotom, Wave, and Blast all attacker with their most powerful ranged attacks, while Storm was chucked at the Totem while using Spark. Sapphire frowned, before cupping his hands over his mouth to shout over the ever-increasing rain. "Storm, try focusing all of your electrical energy between your mandibles instead of all-around your body like you do when you use Spark, and blast it out!"

Storm did as he ordered and managed to fire a Thundershock at the Totem, causing Cobalt to sigh. " _You need to stop teaching moves in the middle of battle."_

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Sapphire looked closer and saw several Wishiwashi swimming away from the main body and grinned. "Keep it up guys, attack again!" Another barrage of attacks caused the Totem to snap out of its confusion and bellow in rage, firing a Hydro Pump at Rotom. Even though the Electric-Type wasn't nearly as trained as everyone else, his pure plasma form allowed him enough speed to dodge easily, zipping away with trails of electricity following.

The Wishiwashi didn't stop though, continuing to blast out Hydro Pumps as easily as Wave fired Bubblebeams. Blast narrowly avoided one and Cobalt yelped as he flipped over another. " _I can't show off my acrobatic kicks on all these moving ice footholds!"_

"Your job isn't to show off, it's to carry Storm safely!" Storm nodded lazily at Sapphire's words as he continued to Charge, causing Cobalt to groan. Wishiwashi fired another Aqua Tail at them and destroyed several more pieces of ice, lowering the amount of ice Cobalt could jump around between. "Wave, use Aurora Beam, make more platforms! Rotom, Blast, push up and distract!"

Rotom and Blast flew in front of the Totem and hit it with Thundershock and Absorb. It snarled and turned its attention to them, letting Wave create more platforms. Sapphire looked up at the falling rain and grinned as inspiration struck. "Alright, Storm, charge up as much as you can, more than your full capacity! Let us know when you can't handle any more!"

" _Oh, what now?"_ Cobalt questioned with a groan.

"Something epic, shut up Cobalt!" Storm began glowing as he carried the electrical energy within him, and the massive Wishiwashi school turned with a suspicious glare, firing a Hydro Pump. Cobalt wasn't ready for the sudden attack and couldn't dodge, so he instead crossed his arms and used Endure, skidding back along the ice and almost falling over into the water.

"Blast, Supersonic once again!" Blast attempted to confuse the Totem, but it reacted too fast and slammed an Aqua Tail into Blast with enough force to send the Noibat flying back unconscious. Sapphire quickly returned her before she fell into the roiling water, and Wave swam forward to distract the Totem with a Dragon Rage.

Wishiwashi spun and shot forward, throwing Wave out of the water with a Double-Edge. Wave yelped but wasn't knocked unconscious, and shook her head. The Totem turned back to the Charging Storm, but another Water-Type attack suddenly washed over it from behind. Sapphire was confused since it didn't look like any attack Wave knew before, and checked the pokédex that was much more monotone without Rotom in it.

"Brine, a Water-Type attack that does extra damage when the user is heavily injured."

"But Wave didn't know Brine before…" Wave suddenly splashed to the surface, but she was now larger, with more quills along her body. "Whoa, did Wave evolve?!"

"Seadra, the evolved form of Horsea. This pokémon's barbs are now incredibly poisonous, but only if the pokémon wishes for an attacker to be poisoned. Alert, a new ability has been unlocked alongside Swift Swim. Seadra now has Poison Point, any opponent that makes physical contact has a high chance of being poisoned."

"Awesome! That's great, Wave! I guess you were already close to evolving when I first caught you!" Wave trilled happily, before focusing and launching another Brine attack at Wishiwashi. The Totem snarled and fired a Hydro Pump, but Wave was much faster with her stronger fins, and easily evaded, especially with Swift Swim boosting her speed in the rain. Wave continued to distract the Totem as it tried to take her out, but by the time an attack had even gotten close to hitting her, Storm was ready.

" _The bug is charged up!"_

"Chuck him into its mouth!" Storm glanced over at him in deadpan shock, while Cobalt just grinned and wound up. Storm was sent flying, straight towards the Totem who was turning back towards them. The inside of the Wishiwashi school glowed yellow, causing Sapphire to snicker. "Let it all out at once! Mjölnir's Force!"

Storm slammed into the back of the Totem at full force, and the discharged energy flowed through the entirety of the Wishiwashi, shocking each individual fish at once. Cobalt wasn't even watching, just rubbing his head in annoyance. " _Mjölnir's Force? Really?"_

"What? It's cool!"

" _That is the farthest thing from cool… you suck at naming attacks."_

"Oh come on! Your Enduring Counter? Claws' Meteoric Slam? Now Mjölnir's Force? I am the _best_ at naming attacks!"

" _Yeah, uh-huh."_ There was one final blast of lightning, and the Wishiwashi making up the Totem's body finally dispersed, one of which flew through the air and slammed into his face, leaving Storm to wade lazily in the water.

"Charja."

He growled and grabbed the fish, throwing it far away, before turning to his Pokémon. "Nicely done, Storm!" He returned the Bug-Type while letting Rotom zip into the Pokédex and kneeling down for Wave and Cobalt. "You guys as well, everyone did amazingly!"

"Zzt, oh man, that wazz amazing!"

"Ha, I'm glad you enjoyed it! So, want to be part of the team?"

"Zzt, you betcha!"

He grinned at the Pokédex, before petting Wave and Cobalt. "And Wave, excellent work, I'm really proud of you! And now you've evolved too!" Wave smiled as best she could with her tube-like mouth and rubbed against his hand, doing her best not to cut him with her spines.

" _What about me?"_

"Psh, you sucked, get good, scrub."

"… _yeah, that's about what I expected."_

There was a moment of silence before they both burst into laughter and he pat the Jackal pokémon on the head. "You did a great job of keeping Storm safe, good work Cobalt." Cobalt preened and Lapras turned to swim back to shore. "Another Trial down!"

* * *

 **Another chapter down. I had troubles with Fanfiction not working all day for some reason, so this is coming out pretty late at night. Massive yikes. It actually messed with the doc a bit and I'm worried some things may be missing but I think I caught everything...**

 **Some will notice Gladion didn't make an appearance, but he'll be showing up in a little bit.**

 **Water-Trial was pretty fun to write, especially figuring out a way for the land-bound pokémon to be able to fight. Using Ice-Type attacks to create platforms was something that came to mind quickly, then I thought about how it's raining during the battles and with how many waves are going around the ice would shatter pretty quickly, so it turned into jumping from ice platform to platform.**

 **Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **-Fletchinder, Inferno**

 **-Seadra, Wave**

 **-Rotom**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**

 **See y'all next time.**


	15. Chapter 15: The Battle Royal

Chapter 15: The Battle Royal

Sapphire grinned as he inspected his bracelet, watching the different gemstones glimmer in their individual slots. "I'm rocking that bling, as they say."

" _The very core of my soul feels like throwing up because of what you just said."_

"You're being dramatic."

" _YOU'RE gonna tell me I'm being dramatic?"_

"I'm not dramatic, I'm awesome." Willow smiled as he bickered with his partner before he finally tapped him on the head with his dark pokéball to return and silence him. The silence lasted for all of a second before Cobalt exited his pokéball and began slapping him. Lana giggled as well, watching as Sapphire yelped in pain.

"They have an interesting dynamic!"

"No, Cobalt is just an abusive baby," Sapphire replied while glaring at the Fighting-Type, causing Cobalt to stick his tongue out.

"In any case…" Lana placed her hands on her hips and nodded. "The next two Trials are Kiawe's and Mallow's. Fire and Grass-Type. Which will you be doing first?"

"I"m going straight for Kiawe's! Time to fire it up!" He grinned and struck a pose, Cobalt imitating him.

Cream giggled at them and Willow smiled, before tapping her cheek. "I might actually go for the Grass-Type Trial. After all, my team isn't exactly well suited for the Fire-Type Trial."

"Yeah, guess that makes sense." Sapphire nodded towards the pokécenter, "So, hang out until tomorrow before going our separate ways, dramatically, into the sunrise?"

"I'm not sure about dramatically wandering into the sunrise…"

"Oh yeah, you can't wake up at all unless it's after nine o'clock."

Willow blushed and glared. "I can wake up early!"

He snickered and elbowed her as he shrugged. "Uh-huh, I'm sure." He blinked as he realized Lana was gone and hummed. "Anyway, I guess it's we should get a room until tomorrow and… man, I'm starving! Come on, let's grab something to eat!" He marched into the Pokémon center and Willow smiled as she followed. "So, who will you be using for the Grass Trial?"

"Most definitely Grimer and Rowlet, those two have the Type advantage after all. Slowpoke as support _maybe,_ but I'll try and catch some new Pokémon before the Trial. Um… what about you?"

"I want to see if I can figure out some way for Wave to create enough water for herself to swim in because she can't exactly fight without water to swim in, but Chrysant will be a must. Storm will sit this one out because of his Bug-Typing, but I'm betting he won't care."

"No, he probably won't." They got a room, before heading to the food court. "How about doing some training at Royal Avenue?"

"Royal Avenue?"

"It's an area where they have battle royales. It's like a battle arena, and it involves four Trainers battling each other as we did during the festival in Hau'oli Village. You want to either do the most damage to other Pokémon or knock out the most Pokémon."

"That does sound like some pretty good training… I might try that out! Now come on, let's eat!"

* * *

Sapphire hummed and swiped on Rotom's display, looking over all of his team's moves. "You know, I should probably buy some TM's the next time we're at a pokémart or just any place that sells them. What do you think, Eevee?"

"E...Eev."

" _She doesn't know what a TM is."_

"Oh yeah…"

" _Damn, I thought you were supposed to be smart."_

"Watch it, jackal." He looked up from Rotom and raised an eyebrow when he saw what looked to be a donkey as large as a horse in his path. "Rotom?"

"Zzt, Mudsdale, the Draft Horse Pokémon. It's kickzz are powerful enough to reduce a large truck to scrap without breaking a sweat, and can drag a ten-ton load for three dayzz and nightzz along mountain roadzz."

"You there, Trainer. Can you come to my aid?"

Sapphire tilted his head as Rotom flew into his bag to see a young girl about a head shorter than him dressed in overalls with her dark brown hair in pigtails. Eevee took a few steps back and hid behind his leg. "Uh… what do you need help with?" His eyes drifted up and he groaned when he saw two Team Skull Grunts behind her. "Oh god dang it!"

"You!"

"Yo, you're that numbskull Trainer from Melemele, yo!"

"What, are you just following me onto each island?" he groaned and slid his hands down his face as Cobalt sighed.

"These scoundrels are Pokémon thieves, and you're on familiar terms with them?"

"Hey, did you not hear me?" He crossed his arms and glared. "These guys keep trying to steal my Pokémon even after I beat them up! Did getting your butts kicked by my Haunter or in the Trial not get it through your brains to not mess with me?"

"Yo, we've trained up, yo! We won't be so easy to take down now, yo!"

"Just… just sticking 'yo' onto the end of a sentence doesn't make you a rapper!"

" _He's right."_

"Hmm. I'm Hapu, by the way."

"I'm Sapphire, this is Cobalt."

"I'll leave that thief to you, Sapphire. I'll take care of this one."

"We're not thieves, yo! It's a legitimate business!"

"We really messed up in Melemele and got exiled to Akala, but we ain't going out like that!" The Grunt that he was facing did their stupid pose, before throwing a pokéball and releasing a Drowzee.

"Ugh, Cobalt, go." Cobalt rolled his eyes and did a flip off of his shoulder. Drowzee crossed its arms and said something which caused Cobalt to scoff.

" _Oh please, your trainer's the criminal here. Hey, Eevee, stand back, these battles can get pretty explosive."_

"Alright, Drowzee, let's finish this up quick with Poison Gas, yo!" Drowzee breathed in before a smog of poison spewed out of his mouth which floated out and began to cover the battlefield.

Cobalt just grinned as the poison surrounded him and slipped on his sunglasses, causing Sapphire to reach up and realize Cobalt had somehow stolen his glasses without him noticing. "Damn it, Cobalt."

" _Suck it, nerd!"_ The poison completely covered him, and he quickly used Ignition to light his body on fire. The poison detonated and threw both Pokémon back, with Cobalt easily weathering it due to both Endure and having set it off in the first place. " _I am really liking Poison Explosion."_

"Yeah, but we need to come up with a cooler name for it. Rotom, look up deities that are related to poison in some way for me to look over later."

"Zzt, roger!"

The smoke cleared to reveal Cobalt striking a pose with Sapphire's sunglasses still on, and Drowzee out cold. "Wha-" The Team Skull Grunt he was up against pulled at his hat. "I've been turned bone-dry! How did we lose so quickly, yo?!"

"You really need to give up. I mean, the only person so far who's been a threat was that one girl with the pink hair and yellow eyes. Does she use contacts, by the way? She never answered that…"

"Aw man!" The other Grunt yelped as he returned his Pokémon, Hapu's Mudsdale having easily defeated their Pokémon. "With all these losses, we're gonna anger our bosses!"

"These tears taste like salt, yo! And it's all your fault, yo!"

Sapphire rolled his eyes. "Damn, that was an actual rhyme, yo. Too bad I ain't got the time, yo, for your games. Your blood was spilled under this hot Alolan sun, but to me, this was all some simple fun."

"...Damn, yo, you want to join the team?"

Hapu sighed and shook her head. "Mudsdale, let's stomp them. It'll be a bit messy, but I'm fine with cleaning that up."

Both Grunts 'eeped,' "Time for us to break out, yo! Gotta tell y'all peace out, yo!" Before they could continue Mudsdale snorted and slammed the ground, cratering it slightly, and the Grunts ran off. Sapphire kneeled so Cobalt could climb back up onto his shoulder and grabbed his glasses back, before petting Eevee.

"Everything's fine, Eevee, don't worry." Eevee slowly shuffled out from behind his legs and nuzzled his fingers with a worried look on her face. He turned and saw Hapu talking to a Drifloon that had been hidden from his view behind Mudsdale before it nodded and flew off. "So they were trying to steal the Ghost-Type? Probably remembered how Spooks kicked their butts and wanted one of their own."

"Hm. So, Sapphire, eh?" Hapu tilted her head to look at him out of the corner of her eyes and smirked. "I like the way you handled yourself in battle."

"Hehe, thanks! I'm on my Island Challenge now, and I'm gonna be the best trainer ever!" He grinned and gave her a thumbs up while Cobalt fist pumped. Eevee gave a weak cry, before hiding behind his legs again.

Hapu nodded, "Well, me and Mudsdale travel all around Alola to accomplish our goals, so perhaps we'll meet again someday. I am indebted to you for your aid after all."

"Nah, don't worry about it, your Mudsdale seemed super strong, I bet you could have taken them on your own! Hey, maybe we can have a battle next time we meet!"

"Maybe." She hopped onto the back of her Mudsdale, before giving him a nod. "See you around, then."

He waved her off, before grinning at Cobalt. "Lookin' forward to that fight!"

" _That Mudsdale looked tough… I definitely want to fight him next time!"_

Eevee just shivered behind him and shook her head. "Still not used to other people? I guess it's good that you're at least comfortable around me, and Willow too." He looked around. "Now, I think that the way to the volcano is actually through the Royal Avenue… Come on, let's go see if we can do some training there like Willow suggested."

* * *

Claws flicked his tail, flames sparking to life around his fur. He used Immolation and burst into flames, before sprinting forward. " _Ha,_ heating _things up, are we?"_

" _I hate you…"_ Claws continued speeding towards Spooks, the flames spiraling around him as he used Flare Blitz. He closed in as he sped up and the flames around him sparked, flaring brighter and brighter, leaving an ashen trail through the grass, before suddenly sputtering out. Claws then tripped and rolled across the grass, groaning as he slowly got up. " _Ugh, I still can't get that to work!"_

Spooks patted him on the head patronizingly, causing him to hiss as he got back up to all fours and shake himself out. " _Cheer up, my_ catty _friend, I'm sure you'll get that eventually."_

" _It's frustrating because I know that I can do it soon."_ Claws sighed. He lit himself on fire and padded in a circle, causing the grass underpaw to crackle. " _I've managed to get Flame Charge down while Sapphire sent us back to the ranch to train, but Flare Blitz is still out of my reach."_

" _What's the problem?"_

Claws lifted a paw and waved it. " _Trying to use too much fire bur-"_ He cut himself off when he saw the grin on Spooks' face. " _Wears me out."_

" _Aw."_

" _Yeah, I am not making dumb puns like you do."_

" _It isn't that dumb."_

" _Saying that it 'burned me out' is most certainly a bad pun."_ He paused. " _Creator damn it…"_

" _Ha!"_

" _Ugh. We're trying this again."_ He wandered back across the field and turned to see Spooks crossing his arms to prepare for his attack. " _Ready?"_

" _Let the_ Claws _come out!"_ Claws just sighed and snapped his tail like a whip, using Immolation again. The area of the ranch they were training in had scorch marks from how many times he'd attempted the move, and another burnt patch was created as he lit up.

" _Flare Blitz!"_ Once more he blasted forward, trails of fire spiraling behind him as he sped up, trying to turn a Flame Charge into a Flare Blitz. He began closing in as he sped up, but yet again his flames sputtered out. He didn't trip this time, but when he reached Spooks the Ghost-Type went intangible and he flew straight into the ocean. He yowled and splashed around, hissing before crawling back onto dry land.

"Cool _down there, kitten!"_

" _I'll find a way to kill a ghost, I swear."_ Claws shook himself off and used Immolation to dry off completely as Spooks pat him on the back patronizingly.

" _Come on, let's relax for a bit! You've been trying this all morning!"_

" _Ugh… Fine. But it's time to practice your moves then."_

" _Hehe! Great!"_ Spooks was surrounded by a sudden wind that ruffled the grass around him. " _We were trying to figure out that Ice Punch thing, right?"_

" _Yes, so that you have more variety. You mostly have Ghost, Dark, and some Poison-Type moves, but you have Fire Punch, and if we manage to teach you Ice Punch we can expand your arsenal with more varied attacks."_

Spooks lit his translucent hands alight with orange flames and looked them over. "… _Now what?"_

" _I'm a Fire-Type, not an Ice-Type. Just… do the opposite of what you normally do?"_

" _Yes, very helpful and insightful my_ spicy _little kitten."_ Spooks' clenched fists flickered for a few moments before going out. " _Nope, trying to do the opposite of setting my hands on fire just make them not on fire."_

" _Can't even take this seriously…"_ Claws shrugged and flicked his tail. " _Whatever, that's for you to figure out. You just helped me with my training because taking my attacks made you tougher. I'm going to find a nice patch of grass that isn't burnt to cinders to nap in."_

" _Jeez, you're almost as bad as Storm sometimes."_

" _At least I train and don't electrocute everyone around me when someone wakes me up. But at least he doesn't make puns."_

" _Hehe!"_ Spooks spun in place and watched some of the ranch's other Pokémon observing him from a distance. " _Hey there, want to help me learn a new move and or prank my teammate?"_ Most of the Pokémon wandered away and Spooks just shrugged. " _We really need some more teammates to liven the ranch up for whoever's here and not on the team."_

* * *

"That was awesome!"

"Heck yeah it was!" Sapphire grinned and high-fived Hau, exiting the stands of the arena. "Did you see that guy's Blaziken?! It totally knocked the other guy's Dewgong all the way out of the arena!"

" _So cool!"_ Cobalt grinned excitedly as Eevee hid in Sapphire's bag, nervous around so many people. " _I'm totally stealing some of those kickboxing moves for my fighting style!"_

"I want to try a round now too! What about you, Hau?"

"Yeah, me and Popplio would do awesomely!"

They made their way towards the front desk, and Hau bound forward to ask how they could sign up for the next round. Sapphire just looked around at the vast amount of people in the lobby, most of them excitedly talking about the match they had just witnessed, and the others debating on whether to try out for the next fight.

"I could win easily with you, Glaceon, but I'm testing out our most recent teammate."

"Eon."

Sapphire grunted as someone shoved past him, and frowned at some guy with white hair and a light-blue tank top with white jeans, plus his light blue Pokémon.

"Hey man, not even a sorry?" The kid and his Pokémon ignored him, so he sighed and walked over to Hau. "So, can we join the next bout or whatever?"

"Yeah, each fight has certain requirements, like how many Trials you've completed! The next one is for people with three Trials completed so I signed us up!"

"Nice! Come on, let's get ready!" They followed the directions that the attendants gave them, and split up to head to the different entrances. He made his way towards the blue entrance, while Hau went towards the red one. "Alright, Cobalt, I bet you want to try out, right?"

" _Heck yeah, let's do this!"_

"Ha! Hey, Eevee, enjoy the show!" Eevee didn't respond and he turned his gaze towards his bag to see Eevee shivering in his bag. "You okay, Eevee?"

" _She says that she thought she recognized someone's voice? She's not sure."_

"Really? Alright, tell me if you think you hear the person again." Eevee hunkered down further into his bag and used her mouth to zip the bag up. He raised an eyebrow before turning towards the tunnel that led into the arena. "Alright, no real battle plan here, just come up with stuff on the fly!"

" _Heh, sounds good to me."_

Soon enough the announcer was calling them out, "And here come the contenders! In the green corner, the Trainer Victor!" The gate was shaped like a Tyranitar's head, and out walked a normal-looking trainer dressed in cargo shorts and a t-shirt.

"In the red corner, the Trainer Hau!" Hau came bounding out of a gate shaped like a Charizard, waving excitedly at the crowd and jumping up and down.

"In the yellow corner, the Trainer Crystal!" The guy who pushed him out of the way in the lobby stepped out of a tunnel in the shape of a Haxorus and ignored the crowd, tossing a pokéball up and down.

"Finally, in the blue corner, the Trainer Sapphire!" He grinned and slipped his shades onto his eyes, cracking his knuckles before giving a two-fingered salute to the crowd as Cobalt posed on his shoulder. He absentmindedly noted that the tunnel was shaped like a Gyarados.

"Trainers, send out your Pokémon!"

"Popplio, let's have some fun!"

"Come on, Ditto!"

"Don't disappoint me."

"Let's show 'em our moves, Cobalt!" All four Pokémon landed on the battle stage, Hau's familiar starter, his Partner, surprisingly another Eevee, and a grey blob of a Pokémon. "Rotom?"

"Zzt, Ditto, the Transformation Pokémon. It can reorganize itzz cellzz into any combination and become a duplicate of any Pokémon, although the quality, strengthzz, and weaknessezz of the copied Pokémon dependzz on the individual Ditto."

"Ooh, neat!"

"The battle royal starts NOW!"

"Transform into the Riolu," Victor called. The Ditto shifted, its gray form taking the shape of Cobalt's before its color shifted to match.

"Rio, riolu!"

" _That's plagiarism, I'll sue!"_

"So it's the same kind of Pokémon as my Riolu… immense power and speed, but little range."

" _Don't you start!"_ Cobalt dashed forward and Ditto met him midway, their kicks colliding and setting off an explosion of flame. Before they could continue to fight, a blast of water speared towards them and they hastily separated as Popplio readied another blast.

"Cobalt, stay back and wait for openings!"Cobalt backflipped away from another attack from Ditto, which put the shapeshifting Pokémon in the direct path of an Icy Wind, courtesy of Popplio. The Ditto used Ignition to melt away the small amount of frost that accumulated on his fur, shaking his flaming body out.

"Popplio, Sound Shield, then Perish Song!" Popplio barked and the familiar water bubble it had used during the festival to deafen itself began forming.

"Man, this again?!"

"Ditto, Transform!" Ditto shifted, turning into a perfect copy of Popplio and formed an identical bubble around its head to block out the Perish Song.

"Don't let Popplio start!" Cobalt barked in affirmation and used Quick Attack, interrupting the Water-Type before it could begin to sing by slamming a foot into her, which also happened to disrupt the water bubble. "All right!"

"Ditto," Victor grinned, "Perish Song!" The grating notes rang out and Sapphire groaned in between winces, while all the Pokémon that heard it groaned. The song ended and the countdown began, with only Ditto being immune.

"Eevee, Double Kick." The small Normal-Type flinched before jumping forward and aiming a kick towards the Ditto. Ditto created a shield of ice to block the attack which began cracking after the first kick and shattered from the second before Cobalt did a flip over Eevee and brought a flaming leg down onto Ditto.

"Ditto, Aqua Ring!" Cobalt's leg was stopped by a watery barrier and the flame quickly went out. Ditto then blasted him with a Water Gun to send him flying back, while Popplio shot in underneath Cobalt, throwing Eevee aside and slamming into Popplio.

Popplio and Ditto began wrestling in a bubble of water and Eevee cringed back to dodge blasts of water exploding from the bubble. "Eevee, get in there and win!"

"Cobalt, don't let 'em! We need the points, High Jump Kick!" The opponent's Eevee yelped as Cobalt leaped up and kicked them, before rebounding high into the air. He did a flip and lit his body aflame, igniting with red and orange heat. Below Popplio and Ditto finally burst the water bubble they fought in, barking in anger at each other.

"Look out," Hau called, "it's that meteor move!"

"No, that's Claws' move! This is Hell Wheel!"

" _Here I come!"_ Cobalt blazed down and slammed into Ditto while unleashing a wave of flame that sent Popplio and Eevee rolling backward. Ditto hissed and tried to smack him away, which he dodged with a quick usage of Detect before landing in front of Sapphire and settling into a crouch. " _This is getting exciting!"_

"Times up!" Both Sapphire and Cobalt practically fell forward in disappointment.

"What?!"

" _What a copout!"_

"It's not like these are league battles, these things are either to the time limit or earlier if all the opponents are knocked out," Hau laughed.

The announcer continued, "the Pokémon and Trainer who have won due to doing the most damage are… Sapphire and Cobalt!"

"Alright!" Cobalt jumped up and they high-fived. A moment later Cobalt fell over with swirls for eyes, Perish Song finally kicking in. "Oh. Whoops." He fished out Cobalt's rarely used Luxury Ball and returned his Partner, with the rest of the trainers doing the same, besides Victor, since Ditto had protected themself.

"Oh well, we would have won if the match lasted a few more seconds. We'll get 'em next time, Ditto." Victor made the Alola gesture towards the rest of them, before leaving through his tunnel with Ditto transforming back and following him. Crystal just huffed and recalled Eevee's unconscious form, walking away without a word. Hau jumped over and high-fived him after returning Popplio.

"Awesome job, Sapphire! I'm kinda miffed that that guy with the Ditto stole our trick though!"

"I think that's what Ditto's are all about." They walked out, and both of them laughed.

"I'm gonna stay and watch a few more fights! Good luck with your next Trial!"

"You too!" They waved goodbye before Sapphire jogged to the Pokémon center. He smiled as he handed Nurse Joy Cobalt's ball, before walking towards the PC. "Okay… Fire Trial next. Storm is out, so I can bring back Claws… or maybe Spooks? Who would be more useful for Trial?" He tapped the side of the machine with one finger, humming.

"Spooks is especially strong and hell constantly be able to use Poison Explosion with all the Fire-Type moves they'll be throwing around… but Claws is resistant and is faster… Spooks is probably best, for now. Then, I'll use both of them for the Grass Trial!" He logged into the PC and began preparing to transfer his Pokémon with the assistant at the Professor's lab.

A few flashes of light later and he was tossing Spooks' pokéball back and forth between his hands. "Welcome back, Spooks!" The pokéball wobbled back to him, and he attached it to his belt. Eevee poked her head out of his bag and flit her ears at him, tilting her head in confusion.

"Oh, you haven't met Spooks! He's my Haunter, he and Claws, a Litten, were hanging out in the Professor's lab while we traveled. He's actually my strongest Pokémon right now, and he can be kind of mean sometimes, but he's usually pretty calm."

"Eev."

He sat down in the waiting room and placed his bag down, petting Eevee absentmindedly. The Normal-Type let off an embarrassed yip, before rubbing into his hand. He leaned back and relaxed as he waited for Nurse Joy to call his name for the next few minutes. Eevee suddenly pulled away and he looked down at the Pokémon in confusion.

Eevee had dove back down into his bag and looked to be shaking, so he leaned forward in worry. "Hey, Eevee? Are you alright?" She said something, and he sighed when he realized he didn't have Cobalt to translate for him, so he reached for Rotom's Pokédex. "Rotom? Can you translate?"

Rotom flew out of his bag and rubbed his eyes, yawning. "Zzt, sorry, I wazz napping… what'zz going on?"

"I don't know, Eevee started shivering for some reason." Rotom looked as confused as he did, so the Ghost-Type began speaking with Eevee. As they talked the nurse called his name over the intercom, so he wandered over to retrieve Cobalt, passing by another Trainer. He slowed when he realized it was Crystal from the Battle Arena and nodded at him, but the boy just ignored him. "Rude…"

" _Yo, Sapph!"_ He grinned and held his arm out, letting Cobalt jump onto him and climb onto his shoulder. He thanked the nurse and grabbed Cobalt's Pokéball, before walking towards the exit. " _So, we're heading for the Fire-Type Trial?"_

"Yep. I sent Storm back and Spooks is here now, thought he'd be better suited for the Trial."

" _Neato. Where's Eevee?"_

"The bag." Rotom flew out and began wringing his hand things, eyes darting back and forth. "Rotom? What'd she say?"

"Zzt, uh well… remember how she wazz really injured when we found her?"

Sapphire slowly nodded, and pat Eevee. "Yeah…"

"Zzt… Well…" they looked down at the Normal-Type. "She sayzz it wazz that'zz dressed in white and blue." He blinked at that when he realized Rotom was talking about Crystal and huffed.

"Alright, Eevee, stay in the bag."

"Zzt, she'zz asking what you're planning to do…?"

"I'm going to have a little chat with them." Outside the center, Sapphire looked back and forth for Crystal, until he heard his voice around the side of the Pokémon center.

"What was that display in the arena? If you're going to be a valuable member of this team, then you're going to have to try harder than that." He walked around the side to see Crystal talking and glaring down at his Eevee, with his arms crossed. "I don't accept slackers on this team."

"Zzt, Eevee sayzz that'zz her fiend!"

"So he really is the same guy! Hey!" Crystal turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"You're the boy who won the royal. Whatever. Did you need something?"

"Yeah, I do need something." He stepped between the light-themed trainer and his Eevee, folding his arms. "You've been abusing this Pokémon!"

"…where the hell did you get that idea from?" Crystal narrowed his eyes in offense and scoffed. "I would never abuse any members of my team."

"That so?" He pointed his finger at the downtrodden Eevee, and then his bag. "My Eevee told me that you're the one that attacked her and her friend!"

"What, can you understand Pokémon?" Crystal scoffed at him.

"No, but I've got a Rotom Dex to translate." Rotom waved.

"Oh." Crystal sighed and bat aside a few bangs of his white hair, glaring at him. "In any case, what did she say? That she had a few cuts and bruises and I'm the evilest person alive? Big deal, Pokémon get injured in battles all the time."

"Maybe, but every Pokémon has enough endurance that when they're knocked out, they aren't bleeding! What you did to Eevee left her with pieces of ice dug into their flesh and blood running down her fur!"

"She and her friend were wild Pokémon. Have you never seen a wild Pokémon before? The ones far off the Routes? They can be vicious."

"Ah—!" Sapphire twitched and raised a finger. "Uh…" That was true, he was always told to never stray too far from the established routes. Some Pokémon couldn't even recognize humans as non-Pokémon, and would even attack on sight if they were hungry enough.

Crystal scoffed and crossed his arms. "I train all of my Pokémon intensely, no breaks, no pampering, we're either the best or will be. If that means that some wild Pokémon that can't handle our strength get a bit too injured, so be it."

"Er…" he shook his head, before waving his arms. "The least you're could have done is heal Eevee if you were gonna leave her injured like that!"

"She ran away before I could even attempt to capture her, or heal her for that matter."

"Uhh…" he winced and rubbed the back of his head.

"If she was too weak to be used on my team, I wouldn't have used her and just released her. This was my Eevee's first battle, to test if they were good enough." Crystal shook his head. "In hindsight, I shouldn't have chosen a battle which can hinge just as much on time as skill, so I'll just have to wait for the next Trainer battle I'm in."

"Hey, hold on," Sapphire cut him off as he reached for his Eevee's pokéball. "What about releasing Eevee?!"

"What? When did I ever say I'd do that? And why should I? I caught him fair and square. He still hasn't proven how strong he is yet."

"Uh…"

" _I don't like him, but he's not really in the wrong…"_ Cobalt grumbled and crossed his arms, glaring at the Trainer opposite them.

"What about what Eevee wants? If he doesn't want to fight, then he wouldn't be a very good Pokémon to battle with!"

"That's true… most of the wild Eevee I've captured want to battle and get stronger…" Crystal dug our Eevee's pokéball and pressed a button on it, causing it and Eevee to glow blue. "If Eevee isn't going to give his all, then he'll be useless to me. Whatever. He's your problem now, I'll find a more useful Pokémon."

Crystal tossed the ball to him and he caught it with a surprised look on his face, before frowning. "Harsh treatment can work, but not for all Pokémon! Some work best with kindness, and others with intense training, but not all Pokémon are the same!"

"Hmph." Crystal walked away, turning to look at him with a smirk. "Prove it. I've heard rumors that they might be creating a league here in Alola… one for people that have completed each Island's Grand Trial. I've already completed three." He flashed his Trainer Passport, and on it, he could see the stamp for Melemele, and what he assumed to be Akala and

Ula'ula Island. "There hasn't been a Kahuna on Poni for a while, but when there is one, I'll be attempting the Trial right away. But for now, that means I have plenty of time to train my Pokémon. If they do make a Pokémon League here… I'll be facing off with you if you can complete each Grand Trial or survive the early rounds. We'll see who's training style flourishes best there."

Sapphire just nodded at the Trainer, clenching a fist. "Got it. I'll meet you there, and I'll prove that not every Pokémon learns best from your harsh style!"

"I look forward to it." Crystal nonchalantly waved back over his shoulder at him, his other hand in his pocket as he walked away.

"…hey, wait, I didn't ask why you only use Eevee's!"

Crystal paused. "I like gimmicks, alright?!" Crystal then walked away faster.

Sapphire stared at his back, before turning to Eevee, who was staring up at him. His own Eevee jumped from his bag and nuzzled Crystal's former Pokémon, and he smiled. "Well, I guess, for now, all's well that ends well. Eevee, you found your friend, so if you want to leave, you're free to head out."

Eevee looked up at him and swished her tail, before murmuring to her friend. He yipped back, and that continued for a few minutes. Eventually, both turned back to him. "Rotom? Cobalt?"

" _I'll handle it. They'd both feel safer with you if you captured them."_

"Really?" They looked downtrodden, so he waved his hands. "I'm not denying you, I've just never heard of a Trainer capturing Pokémon specifically to keep safe. I'm fine with it, so don't worry." He activated Crystal's discarded ball, and the male Eevee flinched back. Seeing this, Sapphire looked down at the ball, before crushing it underfoot. He then grabbed two Pokéballs from his bag and held them out. "Alright, whenever you two are ready."

Eevee murmured something. " _Eh? Okay. So the Eevee that's been following us wants to actually join our team."_

"Really? Why?"

"… _okay, yeah. Uh-Huh. She wants to kick Crystal's butt and wants to fight his Pokémon to prove him wrong when we get to the League."_

"Ha! Alright, good enough for me! Welcome to the team… uh. Hm. Nickname ideas?

"Zzt, Crea— no, That'zz Willow'zz Pokémon."

" _Uh, Eve?"_

"Puffball!"

" _Sapph, Eve is—"_

"Eev, eevee!"

"Zzt, she sayzz she likezz it."

" _You're kidding."_

"Alright, welcome to the team, Puffball. And Eevee, if you want a nickname too just say so."

" _He isn't sure yet."_

"Alright, no probs. When you get to the lab, Puffball, you can train with Claws and Storm until I bring ya back! They— well, Claws is pretty smart, so he can probably see what you should train up first. And Eevee, Storm can probably teach you some things on relaxation, heh. That reminds me, Rotom, you don't have a nickname. Want one?"

"Zzt, I'll start thinking on some ideazz!"

"Gotcha. Alright, ready?"

Once they both nodded, he tapped them on the heads with the pokéballs, capturing them inside. After they flashed, they glowed and vanished, transporting to Melemele. "Alright. Come on, let's go beat the Fire-Trial, then Grass, then all the rest! We'll show Crystal what being a Trainer is all about!"

" _Yeah!"_

* * *

' **Kay, another chapter down. Not much to say today, hope you enjoyed. I won't add Eevee to Sapphire's team list, since unlike Puffball, Eevee isn't a combatant. I was going to make a fortnite reference in the title, but even I wouldn't go that far.**

 **I'm sure some people expected some major asshole to be the guy who injured Eevee, but I feel like that's a problem some people have when writing fics, an antagonist that shows up maybe once or twice is the devil incarnate, or maybe the rival themself is. A character like that can be written well, sure, but I feel like that's usually a gateway for a fic to go from normal to 'what the hell is happening why are demon gateways opening during the middle of what's supposed to be a slice of life?'**

 **You can have an asshole for an antagonist, and not have them be a complete and utter piece of $h!t. But that's just my opinion of course. MY OPINION. They can be done well. I've read several done very well.**

 **We also saw some of Spooks and Claws at the ranch, I'll probably write some more segments of the Pokémon not in the party just hanging out and training at the ranch since that could lead to some funny stuff. Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **-Fletchinder, Inferno**

 **-Seadra, Wave**

 **-Rotom**

 **-Eevee, Puffball**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**

 **See y'all next time.**


	16. Chapter 16: Blazing Spirits

Chapter 16: Blazing Spirits

"Stupid Sapphire… I can wake up early…" Willow crossed her arms and mumbled to herself, walking north towards Lush Jungle. After she'd woken up at nine-thirty and been teased relentlessly by Sapphire for not being able to wake earlier, they split up and went separate directions, Sapphire to conquer the Fire Trial, and herself the Grass.

It wasn't her fault! She was a night person, and Sapphire was a morning person!

In any case, she continued walking, with Cream relaxing on her shoulder as she did so. Unlike Shalour where weather depended on the season, it was always nice and hot in Alola so Cream was basking in the sunlight happily. She giggled at the sight, it almost seemed like Cream was a Fire-Type sometimes with how much she enjoyed the warm sun back home.

Her eyes were drawn back to the road and she witnessed two oddly dressed people observing a pair of Sudowoodo on the side of the road. Weren't they…? That's right, they were those Ultra Recon Squad people. If she remembered correctly, their names were Phyco and Soliera, odd names, but she wouldn't judge them for that. She'd met them a few times, but they were always speaking oddly, and about things she didn't understand. "Phyco, Soliera. It's nice to see you again."

They turned upon hearing her greeting and nodded calmly. "Ah, Willow of Alola. We were just studying these Sudowoodo. Fascinating how they mimic plants to avoid water, their natural weakness."

"Indeed. I've thought about capturing one, since knowing Sapphire, he'd easily be fooled by that…" She smiled as she thought about how the dramatic boy would react to finding that out.

"In any case, I wish for a battle!" Soliera suddenly interrupted, pulling out a pokéball. It was an odd one though, and Willow had never seen one like it. It was a deep blue, with grids of white going along it. Coming out of the button were four yellow grips, and Willow looked at it trying to remember if she'd ever heard of a pokéball like that.

"Oh? I'll happily oblige then. You'll be using the same Pokémon? Shall I use a different one then?"

"No, there is no need for me to use these odd Alolan Pokémon. So I shall be using one of ours."

"Very well." They stepped apart, and Soliera tossed the pokéball forward as she grabbed a pokéball of her own. "Grimer, I require your assistance." Her Poison-Dark Type popped out of its pokéball, splashing onto the ground and causing the grass underfoot to begin to die.

"Poipole, go!" Out of the ball came a Pokémon that Willow had never seen before. It was a small, purple, bipedal Pokémon, with small limbs that had no visible digits. Three spikes protruded from its head, one in the front and two on the side, with the two on the side having what looked to be needles protruding from them, and a third larger needle extending from the top of its head. Its small eyes and mouth glowed cyan, and it gave off a small cackle.

"Poipole? Rotom, analyze." Rotom flew from her bag and scanned the target. She rarely needed Rotom to scan an opponent's Pokémon, so this was yet another first.

"Zzt… Eh? No recordzz of this Pokémon are appearing in my database…"

"No records?"

"Poipole, use Signal Beam!" Poipole lowered its head and fired three flashing, sinister beams of Bug-Type energy, and Grimer spread its form out to dodge, creating holes in its body. After the beams passed through, Grimer reformed and lunged forward.

"Grimer, Crunch." Poipole screeched as Grimer lunged and bit down hard on its body, trying to whack at the Dark-Type to no avail. It was made of goo, after all, so physical attacks were next to useless.

"Grah! Poipole, Signal Beam again!"

"Disable!" The beams sputtered out before they could even be fired, and with one final bite, Poipole was out for the count. "Well done, Grimer. Return."

Poipole was returned silently by Soliera, and she sighed. "It is not Poipole that failed in this battle… it is I, as a Trainer, who failed." Soliera clenched a fist and stood straight. "I was able to understand Poipole better, but it seems my Pokémon battle skills leave much to be desired…"

As Soliera spoke, Phyco rubbed his chin and looked at her Z-Power Ring. "That ring… Its light feels somehow nostalgic."

"Do you think it is the same light our ancestors gazed upon, the light said to have come from the Blinding One?"

"Who can tell? Yet it is our duty as the Ultra Recon Squad to find that out." Seeing that they were no longer paying attention to her, Willow shrugged and moved on.

"I wonder what Sapphire is doing? Probably preparing for his Trial."

Halfway across the island, Sapphire was watching a Furret walk. "...He be walccing."

" _How long shall he walcc?"_

"As long as he need to walcc."

" _That be a long walcc."_

"But he will get there. For he walcc."

" _The endless walcc."_

* * *

As the sun set, Willow looked down and patted her newest Pokémon's pokéball. She'd found her scrounging for shiny objects along the road, and had put up a fierce battle. With her newest Pokémon, she would have an even higher chance at completing the Trial, and had already come up with several strategies involving the Pokémon, and would be able to come up with more after they had done some training.

She began walking forward, entering the Lush Jungle, overseen by Mallow. Said girl was waiting by the entrance, humming to herself and playing with a Morelull. She looked up as she approached and smiled, waving her over. "Alola! Nice to see you again! How's your cute friend?"

Willow twitched. "Lillie? She isn't on the Island Trial."

"No, no, Sapphire, the boy!"

"He's. Fine." Mallow giggled at her reaction, before spreading her arms wide.

"In any case… Welcome to the Lush Jungle, the Trial Grounds of yours truly, Mallow! Ready to get in some hot water? My Trial's ready for you, if you're ready for it!"

"I'm ready. Let's do it."

Mallow giggled and tapped her cheek, leaning forward. "I knew it the first time I saw you two… you both have chosen only the finest of ingredients for your teams, haven't you?"

"If that's how you'd like to describe it, then yes."

"Of course, of course! After all, you two were the ones who got your Sparkling Stones straight from Tapu Koko, right? Well, I totally get it! Alrighty, here in Lush Jungle, it's time for Mallow's Trial to begin!"

"What does your Trial involve?"

"Can you feel it? The breath of the jungle?"

Halfway across the island, Sapphire blurted out something about The Legend of Zelda.

"Yes, I can tell just what today's special should be… Mm-hm! My secret specialty: The Super Mallow Special! Your Trial will be to find three ingredients necessary for the dish for me! But be careful, some of the ingredients may be guarded by wild Pokémon."

"I see. Just what are the ingredients that I need?"

"A Few Pinap Berries, some Honey, and a Big Root. And here's your Forage Bag to hold them all in! Have fun finding the ingredients, I'll be getting the cauldron ready!

"Alright." She nodded resolutely and walked away, feeling Cream climb out of her bag and onto her shoulder. When they were far enough away from Mallow she sighed, rubbing her head. "I wish I could act normally around others like I can with Sapphire and Hau, but I just keep reverting to my serious persona I used back home."

 _Don't worry, Willow,_ Cream smiled, _you'll get it someday. Besides, I think you were a tad angry at her for being so interested in Sapphire._

"What?! No, I wasn't!" She blushed and shook her head, causing Cream to shrug. They walked deeper into the forest, coming upon an area with several bushes and trees covered in different kinds of berries. "A-anyway, Pinap Berries…" She knew what they looked like, they had yellow and orange skin, and the average size was about an inch in diameter, with short and stocky green stems made of tough leaves.

She could see several berries matching the description of the one in her head, so she made her way over to the specific berries. She knelt and began looking through the bushes, picking one of the berries and rolling it between her fingers. "…no, some Pokémon already had their eyes on this tree." She stood and walked to another, exposing her eyes and sniffing it.

"This tree smells sweet. Pinap berries are spicy and sour. No Pokémon would want the berries from this tree, even though they are perfectly fine." She picked several, placing them in her Forage Bag. "That should be enough. Come on, let's look for the honey next. Would you mind sniffing it out?" Pokémon noses were much more sensitive than human ones after all.

Cream lifted her head and began sniffing. _I smell sweet honey that way._ She pointed towards where she sniffed the honey and telepathically spoke with her Trainer. Willow nodded in response and began walking in the direction indicated.

They walked for several minutes, brushing aside leaves and watching Pokémon scamper underfoot before Cream lifted her head and sniffed the air. "What is it? Are we close to the honey?"

 _Yes, but… I can smell something else? Smoke?_

"Smoke?" That was odd. Why would there be smoke in the middle of the jungle? No Fire-Types were dumb enough to let a blaze go out of control if they were chasing prey.

"Null, Flamethrower." Willow screamed and crossed her arms as a wave of heat washed past her, thankfully not hitting her. She narrowed her eyes and dashed from the underbrush, to witness a blond boy wearing black clothing and a red hip bag commanding his odd-looking Pokémon to launch another wave of flames towards a larger than normal Lurantis.

"Slowpoke!" Her Water-Type burst from his pokéball and immediately used Trick Room. "Put out those flames!" Slowpoke began using Water Gun, spraying the flames that were beginning to spread. She locked her gaze onto the boy's Pokémon, having never seen it before. It wore an odd helmet that hid the entirety of its face and head, besides part of a grayish mane and its body was mainly colored black. It's two front legs ended in bird-like talons, and it's back two ended in dog-like paws, with an aquatic, fin-like tail. With all of the various body parts, it looked chimeric almost. "Rotom?"

Rotom carefully analyzed the Pokémon, before beeping and hiding behind her. "Zzt, there are no known recordzz of this Pokémon existing anywhere on earth!"

"What? What about its typing?"

"Zzt, analyzing… Typing is completely unknown! Not just unknown, it keepzz fluctuating between all known Typingzz!"

The Pokémon leaped away from a Petal Blizzard attack, turning its gaze to her. The boy did so as well and narrowed his gaze as he brushed aside some hair. "Damn, we attacked in the middle of a Trial? Whatever, the Grunts can finish capturing some Pokémon, and I'll take care of you."

"Grunts?" Slowpoke finished putting out the fire and sped in front of her, so she narrowed her eyes and motioned for Cream to jump forward as well. "Are you part of Team Skull? You don't look like a Grunt."

"If you're thinking I'm an Admin, I'm not. I'm more of an enforcer. Null, Leaf Blade." As he spoke he tossed a green-colored disk at apparently what was called Null, and a red disc popped out of Null's helmet, replaced by the green one. Null flashed and a green aura surrounded them. The aura quickly focused onto Null's mane, becoming a sword.

"Slowpoke, Reflect!" A shield was set up, but when the Leaf Blade slashed against it the shield cracked. Slowpoke flinched back in confusion at the power of the attack, as did Willow. "What? To do that much damage… it doesn't look especially strong, is it a Grass-Type and had STAB?

The Totem suddenly screeched and launched a Razor Leaf attack, which Null took easily. Null turned and whipped its tail, launching an Air Slash at Lurantis who blocked with Protect. The boy threw another disc forward, this one light blue, which replaced the green one and made Null glow the same color. Null bound forward and glowed as they used Aerial Ace, Lurantis' Protect falling just as they did so.

Lurantis hissed and crossed their arms to defend as Null made impact, and the Totem was tossed back from the attack. Lurantis chittered and rubbed their scythe-like arms together threateningly. "Cream, Exploding Spheres." Cream focused and launched her attack, causing Null to retreat to not get caught up in the psychic explosions. Unfortunately for the Pokémon, it backpedaled directly onto a Psychic Mine.

The Trainer boy growled and tossed yet another disc forward, this one a midnight black, and made Null glow the same color. Willow narrowed her eyes and watched as Null's mane turned black as it prepared a Night Slash. "Full Shield!" Cream set up her shields and the blade fell crashing down, sparking against the shield.

Cream and Null struggled for several seconds before the attack pierced the shields and sent Cream tumbling back. "Cream!" She caught her Pokémon and grabbed a pokéball from her belt, throwing it forward with a spin. "Murkrow, I require your assistance!" Her newest Pokémon popped out of the ball and circled the area, cawing at the chimera Pokémon. "Astonish!" Murkrow dove, stopping just inches from Null and letting out a much louder caw.

Null flinched back, and Slowpoke used Null's moment of distraction to hit the Pokémon with a massive wave courtesy of Surf. "Slowpoke, attempt Confusion!" As Null was attempting to get back up, the Psychic-Type Attack impacted but did nothing. "If that did nothing… then…"

Her eyes narrowed, and she clenched her fists. "Those discs… Can they change Null's Typing?"

The boy shrugged. "Maybe. I won't give up an advantage by confirming or denying that."

"Either way, it seems obvious. Psychic attacks were working fine earlier, but with that black disc now they aren't…"

"Zzt, maybe that'zz why it'zz named Null…"

"Yo, Gladion!" A couple of Grunts ran through the bushes, one of them waving to the boy that was apparently named Gladion. "We've got a buncha Grass-Types for new recruits! Let's go, before they give us the boot!"

"Always with the rapping…" Gladion scoffed and turned before a psychic explosion cut off their path. Slowpoke growled and Willow grabbed another pokéball, while Lurantis clicked and hissed, moving to cut off their escape. "You want to keep fighting? Your numbers advantage is nullified by these grunts, and Type: Null is still able to fight."

"Yo, you can't take down all of us, yo!" One of the grunts began doing their hand signs, or whatever those were, and the other one nodded.

"Yo, we've brought enough boys to capture a buncha Grass-Types, and we've got our Admin taking care of Paniola Ranch!"

"What?" She stepped forward and Null matched her, growling. "Why are you attacking a Ranch?"

"We gotta have a good assortment of Typings, yo! They got some good Fire-Types and Normal-Types over there! You ever try to beat a Miltank continuously using Rollout, yo?!"

"Well, I had a cousin who called one time to vent her frustrations about not beating some Gym Leader named Whitney, yo."

"Rotom, got that?"

"Eh?!" Both grunts we're slapped on the back of the head by a growling Gladion.

"Idiots!"

"Zzt, roger, calling Sapphire'zz Rotom!" Rotom's screen showed a ringing phone, before Sapphire's face appeared on the other end. "Connected!"

"Yo, Wils, what's up? I was just setting up camp for the night."

"Null," Gladion called, throwing the red disc at Type: Null. "Stop her! Flamethrower!" A wave of fire swept towards her, and Slowpoke formed a shield of water using Surf.

"Eh? Did you accidentally call while in the middle of a battle?" Sapphire poked at his own Rotom, tilting his head.

"Not exactly… remember when Team Skull was trying to capture all those Water-Types a few days ago? They're doing the same thing here in Lush Jungle."

"What?" Sapphire's Rotom shifted with him as he moved around, seemingly grabbing his stuff and recalling several Pokémon. Slowpoke created another wall of water to counter another blast of fire, and she winced as a lick of flame brushed her skin. "Hold on, I'll get there as fast as possible!"

"Don't, since it's a Trial location the Totem can help me keep it under control, and I'm sure Mallow is taking care of several Grunts herself. They're going after Paniola Ranch as well, so you need to get there and protect it! Slowpoke, Water Pulse!"

"Got it! Good luck, Wils!" The call ended and Rotom flew into her bag while she refocused on the battle.

"Grimer, Rowlet, I require your assistance!" She sent out her remaining Pokémon, and the Grunts backing up Gladion sent out their own. "Lurantis, are you alright with me commanding you?!"

"Lura." The Totem nodded and spread its scythe arms, while Rotom flew next to her to show her the Totem's moveset.

"Hmph. Let's go then. Null, Fire Blast!"

"Psychic Assault!"

* * *

Sapphire slipped his helmet on, making sure it was fastened tight, before tugging on his bag. "Secure?"

" _Secure!"_

He turned as the sound of hooves pounding against dirt reached his ears, and he beheld a Tauros slowing to a stop next to him. As much as he didn't like the bulls, he pushed past that to climb atop its back and fasten himself to the saddle. "Tauros, I need to get to Paniola Ranch as quick as possible. Can you do that?"

Tauros snorted and threw his head back, before turning and dashing in the direction of the Ranch. At least it wasn't the same bull as Melemele… With how fast Tauros was, what had been a full day's journey for him took much less time. Especially since Ride Tauros were bred to be faster and with much more endurance than normal Tauros.

" _So what exactly is going on? I didn't hear much before you were returning everyone and putting everything back in your bag."_

"Team Skull again. Just like they were going at that hidden beach, they're trying to capture a bunch more Pokémon again. But why? Are they just trying to get a bunch of Pokémon for their Grunts to use? They can't have that many, or be recruiting that many people so fast…"

" _Does it matter? Team Skull are being bad, so it's our duty to punish them!"_

Cobalt grinned and pounded his fists together, and he grinned back, before leaning forward to streamline himself to Tauros' back. "Yeah! Gun it, Tauros!" Tauros let out a moo, before running even faster. The wind whipped past his head, the few strands of dark hair that escaped his helmet fluttering back in the wind.

Eventually, they reached Paniola Ranch, and although there were no outward signs of trouble that could be seen for miles like a blazing wildfire or something similar, but the number of Grunts wandering around and trying to corral various Miltank, Tauros, Ponyta, and Rapidash was a certain sign you would only notice once you entered the Ranch itself.

A Grunt noticed the Tauros speeding into the ranch, but before they could warn anybody else Cobalt leaped from his bag, kicking his face and knocking the Grunt onto his back "Whoa!"

Tauros skid to a stop and Sapphire dismounted, his legs shaking slightly. "Thanks, Tauros, now get out of here so you don't get caught in the crossfire." Tauros nodded and sped off, and he turned back to the grunts that were turning towards him.

"Yo, a foolhardy Trainer is gonna try and beat us? You're making a big mistake, y—"

"Yeah, I'm cutting this off before you can start. Spooks, show them fear! Inferno, burn them up!" His Pokémon popped out of their balls as he tossed them into the air, and Inferno swept over the Grunts as they sent out their Pokémon, pelting them with flames. "Inferno, Sea of Fire!"

Inferno performed a loop to gain distance, and at the height of it scattered several weak ember attacks, which she then hit with a powerful gust attack. Fire required three key components. Heat, fuel, and an oxidizer, usually just being oxygen itself. Heat and fuel were easily provided. The oxidizer came in the form of the powerful blasts of wind Inferno unleashed, which turned the widespread small embers into a roaring inferno that swept across the various Grunt's Pokémon. Of course, the bird Pokémon was careful to not hit any humans, and once the flames died down all the opposing Pokémon were revealed to be knocked out.

"Y-Yo, that—!"

Several flames were still licking at the grass, so he made sure to snuff them out by walking over them while pulling his sunglasses down. "Yare yare, you Grunts aren't worth our time." He let his head tilt back so his glasses would glint, letting a toothy smirk settle onto his face. Spooks laughed viscously behind him and Inferno landed on his shoulder preening himself smugly. Cobalt copied his pose and crossed his arms, positioning himself in front of his Trainer, while the dying fires highlighted them all. "I'm going to be the best Trainer in Alola, so how about you get outta here?"

"…Yo, I'll admit, that's pretty cool, yo."

"Ha, right? We've been practicing that one!" He high-fived Cobalt. "Anyway… Chrysant, it's time to rock and roll! Blast, blow them away!" He sent out his two remaining Pokémon, patting Wave's ball. "Sorry Wave, but we still don't have a way for you to fight without water nearby. Blast, Chrysant, get ready, it's gonna be an onslaught of grunts, but even if they're just grunts, it'll still be a bunch of Pokémon! Quantity versus our quality!" His Pokémon voiced their assent, while Wave's ball wobbled to show she heard his apology.

Several more grunts sent out various Pokémon, Zubats, Drowzee, Slowpoke, Psyduck, Poliwag… actually, there were a lot of Water-Types. Several of which were from the operation that he, Willow, and Hau had stopped in Melemele. "What the heck is it with everyone having Types super effective against my own? And I just sent away Storm!"

"Zzt, should I come out and fight?"

"No, you're my trap card, stay hidden just in case we need you."

"Zzt, whoa, I'm an ace up your sleeve? Cool!"

As his Pokémon bound forward to battle with the Grunt's Pokémon, he saw several Grunts trying to lead away several different Ranch Pokémon. "Chrysant, stop them! Stone Edge to block their path!" Several pillars of rock shot up from the ground and caused the Grunts to yelp as they couldn't get past, while the Pokémon they were trying to capture tried to escape.

"Yo, come on! Just one Trainer and his Pokémon ain't enough to take down all of us!"

"Spooks, Shadow Ball!" The Grunt yelped and ran away as a Shadow Ball passed dangerously close to her face. He stepped back to observe the battlefield, trusting his Pokémon to make the right decisions in the battles they were in. After all, with how many opponents there were, he couldn't micromanage everything. "Blast, Supersonic!" He would still chime in of course, but only if it seemed like his Pokémon needed assistance.

He looked around, spotting a fleeing Grunt and grabbed the back of their shirt. "Hey, where are the people who take care of the ranch? What did you do to them?!"

The grunt looked very serious all of a sudden. "Hey, we may be thieves, but we don't kill people. They're just tied up in the ranch house."

"...Oh. Okay, cool."

" _Sapphire, I think we've got a problem…"_

"Cobalt?" He turned to see Cobalt settling into a battle stance, and another member of Team Skull walking over, tossing an Ultra ball up and down. He was dressed differently from the Grunts, which was the first sign that trouble was afoot. His attire consisted of torn, black jeans with a chain hooked to his belt loops, a white t-shirt with a poorly painted, dripping black skull, and a leather jacket with silver sleeves. The boy had dark skin and a muscular build, and stood a few inches taller than him, with black hair and bangs that dangled lazily in front of dark, bored eyes. "Ah great…"

"Yo." The boy stretched, looking from him to Cobalt and back. His eyes then darted towards his Pokémon, which were easily taking down the Team Skull Grunts, before he sighed. "Ugh… I wanted to nap while all these guys were doing their jobs, but you just had to come and interfere."

"Hey, if you want to keep napping, you can. I've learned by now that people dressed differently from the average Grunt are probably tough."

The boy snorted at his words before a yawn slipped from his mouth. "Whatever. If I have to kick your butt to get some more sleep, so be it. Although…" He scratched his cheek, tilting his head. "...You're that upstart who managed to beat one of Plumeria's Pokémon, aren't you… Hmph. Just my luck."

Sapphire shifted his feet, his eyes glancing towards his Pokémon. Spooks and Inferno noticed him facing off against the boy and flew over, taking their places in front of him protectively. "Plumeria? The girl with the Golbat, right? Don't tell me you're on her level…"

"Her? Eh, right below the boss, she's thought of as the toughest fighter on the team."

"Oh thank god…"

"But we're both Admins for Team Skull, and technically my Pokémon are stronger than hers, but since I'm so lazy the boss prefers her to me and usually sends her out for stuff."

"Oh god dang it!"

"Anyway… I guess we're fighting now. Jawbreaker, ready yourself for battle." Out of the pokéball emerged a massive Pokémon, easily fifteen feet tall, and when it landed on the ground the rock cracked and shattered. It snarled, and saliva dripped down from beneath large and vicious-looking fangs. Its body was a deep red, with small arms and thick legs with black claws, alongside a long tail that flicked back and forth. Atop its head were yellow spikes that looked almost similar to a crown.

"Uh… Rotom?"

"Zzt, Tyrantrum, the Despot Pokémon. Thankzz to the strength of its gargantuan jawzz, with which it could crush a car easily with, thizz Pokémon wazz invincible in the ancient world, and behaved azz a king."

"Just… perfect. Cobalt, Inferno, Spooks, get ready." The Tyrantrum, who was named Jawbreaker apparently, roared ferociously at them.

" _...Hey, mind if I sit this one out?"_

"Stay in there, coward!" He narrowed his gaze and snapped his wrist out so his Z-Crystals would glisten in his bracelet. "Alright, Admin of Team Skull! We'll be going all out, right from the start! I'm Sapphire Chaser, and I'm going to be the best Trainer ever!"

"...Damn, why do you have to be so dramatic? Just fight already."

"Wha- oh, screw it! Spooks, Dark Pulse! Inferno, Ember! Cobalt, let's do this!" He grabbed the Fightinium Z and slammed it into the slot at the top of his bracelet and closed his eyes to focus, feeling energy swell up within him. Memories of Cobalt flashed through his mind like a film reel, and he felt his bond with Cobalt become indestructible. The rush of energy reached its peak, and he opened his eyes to reveal a brown-red tint to them, just as there had been a grey one with the Normalium, before the energy began flowing from him to Cobalt.

His arms began once more moving instinctively, forming the X in front of his face, the Fightinium Z giving off a flash. This time, however, instead of forming a Z, his arms punched forward several times and wound up for one last big one. "Cobalt, All-Out Pummeling!"

" _Suck it, loser!"_ As Spooks and Inferno distracted Tyrantrum, Cobalt glowed as a Z appeared over his body, before the same brown-red aura burst to life around him. He held his palms forward and formed an orb the same color as the aura around him, before rearing back and launching it forward. The orb became a spectral fist that slammed into Tyrantrum's chest, sending the large and heavy Pokémon skidding back. More fists slammed into it, alongside several spectral feet, pummeling the large Pokémon over and over again. Just when it seemed to have ended, Cobalt launched forward and delivered a devastating blow.

As Tyrantrum fell back, Sapphire pumped his arms and grinned. "Alright! No drawn-out battles this time, we finish it right away!" Tyrantrum then got back up and roared, and both Sapphire and Cobalt face-faulted. "Oh come on…"

"Jawbreaker…" Their opponent covered their mouth and hid a yawn, before shaking his head. "Uh, Head Smash." The massive Pokémon stomped forward, lowering their head and barreling directly into the winded Cobalt. The Fighting-Type cried out as he flew back and skid along the dirt before Spooks caught him and set him back down. Cobalt coughed slightly, rubbing his chest.

Tyrantrum continued to charge forward and slammed a foot down, causing several portals to open overhead, through which rocks fell. "HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!"

"Eh, beats me. Rock Slide is weird like that." Inferno flew down, avoiding several rocks with panicked chirps. She managed to dodge most of them but got unlucky as the last one was about to crash down onto her before it suddenly stopped midair. With a loud howl, Chrysant slammed her paw onto the ground, though not as impressively as Tyrantrum had done. But with that slam, the rocks that had crashed to the ground wobbled, before flying forward and crashing into Tyrantrum.

The large Pokémon didn't seem to be troubled by the rocks crashing into it, but Sapphire still grinned. "Nice going, Chrysant, you've learned Rock Throw! Now, use the rocks to crush the enemy inside a tomb!" The rocks flying forward changed direction, now heading up to smash down on top of Tyrantrum, attempting to trap the Pokémon.

The Pokémon snorted, waving its head and breaking through several, before charging forward once more. It spun and swung its tail down, glowing with purple energy. His three Pokémon dodged back to avoid the attack before Spooks cackled and used Night Shade, a curtain of darkness extending from his body and slamming into Tyrantrum.

"What's a move that you know…? Oh, yeah. Bulldoze." Tyrantrum began rampaging, slamming its feet down as it sped forward. Inferno sped to a safe distance and Spooks faded away, but the ground rumbling underfoot prevented Cobalt from finding his balance long enough to dodge and he was subsequently trampled underfoot.

"Cobalt!" As Tyrantrum lifted its foot to continue rampaging, Cobalt rolled out groaning in pain, Endure keeping him conscious. "Gah… uh…" He looked through the movesets of his Pokémon to try and find some ace in the hole he could use, and he stopped on Spooks' Curse. "Rotom, what does Curse do?"

"Zzt, when used by non-Ghost-Typezz the Pokémon become stronger and more durable but are slower, and when used by Ghost-Typezz the Pokémon become weaker, but the opponent izz cursed to slowly lose vitality."

"Spooks, use it, use it!" Spooks did so, and his body flashed while his eyes turned red, and Tyrantrum glowed while its movements slowed.

"What a bother…"

Tyrantrum stumbled as pain visibly wracked it for the first time in the battle before Cobalt leaped up and slammed a Force Palm into the back of Tyrantrum's head. The dinosaur stumbled, and Cobalt gripped its head spikes to slam another attack down. Tyrantrum tried to throw him off before Spooks barfed out a Smog attack that surrounded the large Pokémon before Inferno swooped in and breathed out an Incinerate attack that lit up the poison and detonated it. Cobalt quickly leaped away as the explosion went off, and the Tyrantrum fell backward. " _Take that… Ugh, I need a soda and a nap…"_

Tyrantrum shifted and began getting back up, Curse still sapping his strength. "You do know that I still have more Pokémon, yeah? It's boring, but I could keep fighting, even if you beat Jawbreaker… But I don't see that happening. Jawbreaker." The boy shifted his arm, and Sapphire's throat dried up when he saw a Z-Power Ring revealed on the boy's wrist as his sleeve pulled up.

"Oh crap, everyone, back!" All of his Pokémon, including those not fighting Tyrantrum and instead keeping the Grunts from escaping or capturing any more Pokémon, began backing away. Their opponent shifted his stance, a brown gem glinting as he crossed his arms, before he squatted and flexed, his energy flowing into Tyrantrum, a Z forming over the Pokémon before the same brown aura surrounded it.

"Continental Crush." The Pokémon roared, throwing its head back and suddenly all the rocks in the area began flying up, alongside massive chunks of the ground. They began fusing high above them, becoming a massive slab of rock that looked to be the size of a house.

"Move!" Inferno and Blast easily escaped the radius of the attack. Spooks phased through it and Chrysant dug underground to hide. Cobalt just looked up at the falling boulder and groaned.

" _I hate my life."_

"Endure!" the rock impacted and shook the earth, falling apart shortly after landing. Cobalt was left in a crater, knocked out but not harmed any further due to the last minute usage of Endure. Chrysant dug back up, looking slightly injured from being partially crushed while underground, and growled at Tyrantrum as it stomped over. "Chrysant, get yourself and Cobalt out of there!"

"Jawbreaker, Crunch." Chrysant waited a moment, before grabbing Cobalt by the neck with her jaws and jumped away just as Tyrantrum chomped down. She tossed her head and launched Cobalt towards him, and he lifted his Luxury Ball to return his unconscious Pokémon.

"Damn, everyone, return!" His Pokémon all made their way to him, Tyrantrum still fighting even with Curse having been active for what felt like several hours at that point. "Damn, damn…" His eyes observed the various ranch Pokémon around them, several watching with nervous looks before his eyes slid down to his bracelet and he growled as he removed the Fightinium and replaced it with the Normalium. "Chrysant… I need you to distract them for a few seconds."

Chrysant lowered her form, all normal playfulness was gone from her form. " _I've got this, Sapphy."_

He nodded, glossing over his internal translation of her barks and growls. "Spooks. You know Poison Explosion? We're upgrading it."

" _I'm all ears, Sapph."_

Tyrantrum stomped down, looking down at the tiny puppy looking back up at her massive opponent without fear. The Admin fighting them raised an eyebrow as grey energy surrounded Chrysant, and looked slightly alert for the first time. "Two Z-Moves in one battle? That's pretty tiring you know. Sometimes too much trouble than it's worth."

Chrysant nor Sapphire acknowledged his words. "Chrysant, use Breakneck Blitz!"

" _Get ready, you big meanie!"_ Chrysant slammed into Tyrantrum as it braced itself with the speed and force of a truck, tossing the Pokémon back several feet. Before it could recover, several dozen pillars of rock shot out of the ground and began impacting with the Pokémon, Chrsaynt dodging over, under, and between, constantly harassing the bigger Pokémon.

"Jawbreaker, stomp them already!" Tyrantrum snarled and began biting down on the pillars around it, dark energy leaking from its jaws. It tossed its head wildly in rage, finally landing a hit on Chrysant and throwing her hard into the ground. The rock underfoot shattered, but while most Pokémon would have been knocked out, her ability Vital Spirit kicked in, and she managed to get back up. Another pillar of stone impacted with Tyrantrum, and in a rage, the Pokémon kicked her away, tossing her to Sapphire. She rolled to a stop and he knelt, picking her up, before looking at them with dark eyes. "Stop before the rest of your Pokémon are hurt. Maybe hand them over too, they're pretty tough."

"Ha." he let out a humorless laugh. "No. I suggest that you stop though. For the same reason."

"You still think you can even handle the rest of my Pokémon?"

"Not on my own. But… I've set the field. And I have some friends." As Sapphire huffed from exhaustion after using two Z-moves one after the other, the Admin finally noticed that the ground around Tyrantrum was covered in a thick fog of poison, and Inferno, alongside several dozen Ponyta and Rapidash were preparing Fire-Type attacks. "Go! Toxic Armageddon!" All of the Fire-Types unleashed their attacks, Embers, Fire Spins, Fire Blasts, all aimed towards the poison.

"Jawbreaker, move!" The flammable poison went off like several tons of dynamite. Tyrantrum was obscured by thick smoke, and once it faded, its unconscious form was revealed, laying on the ground. The Admin silently returned the Pokémon, a chuckle escaping from him. "And of course, now you have backup…" His eyes danced as he observed the various ranch Pokémon now backing up Sapphire's team. They were weak, certainly… but they were numerous enough that it wouldn't matter. Death by a thousand cuts, as it was. There was a bright light and Inferno was hidden from view, and a larger Pokémon with a sleeker body and deeper coloring replaced it.

"Inferno, you've evolved! Ha! Do you really want to face our blazing spirits now?!"

"Heh. Alright." The Admin returned the Tyrantrum, turning away from them as he began chuckling. "Metallica." A metal bird that looked similar to a massive raven was suddenly in front of the Admin, and he climbed on its back, smirking at him. "You. You interest me. We'll be fighting again, and you'd better give me a full fight."

"We have some ways to go before we can take on your whole team," Sapphire cautiously said.

"Hmph. You'd better train then. Strong trainers to test myself against… that's what I live for. My name is Noct. Be ready next time we meet." He turned away and the metal bird took off, while Sapphire scowled.

"What an emo name."

* * *

 **Noct is a stupid name and whoever named him is probably emo.**

… **Wait a minute.**

 **In other news, Furret be walccing. God, that was a thing. I don't even know why I wrote that segment. I think my brain just shut down while I was typing and I remembered that internet meme so my fingers moved on their own. Anyway, I've got another Omake for this chapter. I've been writing some random ideas that come to me, and the ones that I like and won't be long enough for a segment in an actual chapter or just amuse me enough I put in a doc for Omakes. I might put in some more in the future.**

 **This one came to me when I was reading Luvdisc's Pokémon entry.**

 **Omake Name: The blessing of a Luvdisc**

 **It lives in warm seas. It is said that a couple finding this Pokémon will be blessed with eternal love.**

* * *

"Zzt, Luvdisc, the Rendezvouzz Pokémon! It livezz in warm seazz and if left on itzz own, it becomezz despondent, leaving itself open to attack. It izz said that a couple finding thizz Pokémon will be blessed with eternal love."

Sapphire blinked and looked at the end of his fishing line, where Luvdisc nibbled at the bait. "Couples will be blessed with eternal love…?"

"Zzt, That look on your face izz making me nervouzz…"

"Rotom, call Willow! I want to invite her fishing!"

"Zzt… Roger…"

" _This is going to go horribly wrong. I can tell already."_

 **Ω • Ω • Ω**

This is really fun," Willow smiled, reeling in a Magikarp. She fed it some food and giggled as its mouth nibbled at her fingers, finding that the sensation tickled her. "Bye-bye, Magikarp!"

The Pokémon happily swam away, and Sapphire sighed as he reeled in his own Magikarp. "Yep. Fun." He fed his as well, before releasing it. He cast out the line again, scratching his head. "There's a lotta Magikarp here."

"Yeah… still, that doesn't make fishing any less fun!" Willow hummed as she sent her line out again, before twitching. "Oh… uh, excuse me, but it seems I have to go and find a restroom…"

"Ah, yeah, uh… no problem. I'll wait here." After she left, he grumbled. "Still no Luvdisc."

" _You know, I think the 'couples' being described by the Pokédex were people already dating."_

"No, I'm sure it meant a couple of people as well! It has to."

" _Yeah, alright…"_ Cobalt yawned and watched as Sapphire reeled in another catch.

"Seriously, there has to be another—" he paused as a Luvdisc appeared at the end of his line. There was silence for a few seconds, as they both observed the heart-shaped fish before Cobalt snickered.

" _Heh, does this mean we're blessed with eternal love, Sapphy?"_

"Hey, I'm—!" Willow blinked as she came back to witness Sapphire choking out Cobalt while Cobalt elbowed him in the gut multiple times. "Uhh…"

* * *

 **So yeah, I hope y'all enjoyed it. Anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.**

 **Sapphire:**

 **-Riolu, Cobalt**

 **-Litten, Claws**

 **-Rockruff, Chrysant**

 **-Charjabug, Storm**

 **-Haunter, Spooks**

 **-Noibat, Blast**

 **-Talonflame, Inferno**

 **-Seadra, Wave**

 **-Rotom**

 **-Eevee, Puffball**

 **Willow:**

 **-Espurr, Cream**

 **-Rowlet**

 **-Slowbro**

 **-Grimer**

 **-Murkrow**

 **See y'all next time.**


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